UD6R 


MATT 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


GIFT  OF 

Mr.  Lloyd  E.   Smith 


A  VIKING'S 
Love 


List  of  Published  Books 

By  OTTIL1E  A.  LILJENCRANTZ 


THE  SCRAPE  THAT  JACK  BUILT 

Chicago:    A.  C.  McClurg  &  Co.     1896 

THE  THRALL  OF  LEIF  THE  LUCKY 

Chicago:    A.  C.  McClurg  &  Co.    1902 

THE  WARD  OF  KING  CANUTE 

Chicago:    A.  C.  McClurg  &  Co.     1903 

THE  VINLAND  CHAMPIONS 

New  York:    D.  Appleton  &  Co.    1904 

RANDVAR  THE  SONGSMITH 

New  York:    Harper  &  Brothers.     1906 

Also:    Various  Magazine  Stories  and 
Articles  published  in  later  years 


l>raivn  by  Arthur  P.  Kechcr. 


"Schooling  her  bow  she  must  put  him  from  her  heart  and  forget  him." 


A  VIKINGS 
Love 


BY*  OtClLie  A  LILJ6NCRSNCZ 


Copyright  191 1 
c/*.  C.  McClurgC&Co. 
Published  October,  xgiz 


The  Caslon  Press 
Chicago 


PS 
3523 


CONTENTS 

9m 

I    A  Viking's  Love 13 

II    The  Hostage 29 

III  As  The  Morns  Weave 41 

IV  How  Thor  Recovered  His  Hammer    ....    63 


1415939 


OTTILIE  A.  LILJENCRANTZ 

OTTILIE    A.    LILJENCRANTZ  was    born  in 
Chicago  in  1876,  the  daughter  of  Gustave 
A.   M.  and  Adeline  C.  Liljencrantz.     On 
her  mother's  side,  she  was  a  descendant  of 
the   Puritans;   on   her  father's  she   could 
trace  her  lineage  from  Laurentius  Petrie,  an  Archbishop 
in  Upsala,  a  disciple  of  Martin  Luther,  and  a  translator 
of  the  Bible  in  the  sixteenth  century.    The  first  ancestor 
to  bear  the  family  name  was  Count  Johan  Liljencrantz, 
Councillor  of  State  and  Minister  of  Finance,  who  was 
ennobled  for  his  valuable  services  to  the  Kingdom  during 
the  reign  of  Gustavus  III. 

She  received  her  education  at  Dearborn  Seminary  in 
Chicago,  graduating  in  1903.  While  her  health  did  not 
admit  of  a  college  course,  she  took  a  post-graduate  course 


OTTILIE  A.  LILJENCRANTZ 

in  literature  and  was  always  a  persistent  student  in  that 
line.  She  showed  a  marked  literary  taste  at  an  early 
age.  "  I  was  brought  up,"  she  said,  "  on  Longfellow 
and  Bret  Harte,  as  well  as  on  the  myths  and  sagas  of 
the  North,  and  wrote  my  first  story  at  the  age  of  seven, 
a  tragic  love  story,  which  was  a  great  deal  funnier  than 
anything  I  have  ever  written  since." 

While  yet  a  school-girl,  she  wrote  a  number  of  plays 
for  amateur  theatricals,  and  some  short  stories.  Her 
first  book,  "  The  Scrape  that  Jack  Built,"  was  published 
in  1896,  but  the  tales  of  the  North,  with  the  daring  ex- 
ploits of  its  Heroes,  were  alluring,  and  she  made  a  thor- 
ough and  exhaustive  study  of  Northern  literature — Paul 
Du  Chaillu's  "  The  Viking  Age,"  "  Frithiofs  Saga," 
Rasmus  B.  Anderson's  introduction  to  Norse  Mythology, 
and  nearly  forty  other  works  of  the  same  character. 
Among  these  should  be  specially  mentioned  "  Havamal," 
which  comprises  the  sayings  of  Odin  and  is  regarded 
as  the  laws  of  the  Vikings,  and  from  which  quotations 
appear  at  every  chapter  in  her  two  great  historical  novels, 
"The  Thrall  of  Leif  the  Lucky"  and  "The  Ward  of 
King  Canute." 

Her  writings  are  all  morally  wholesome,  for  both  the 
virtues  and  the  vices  of  her  Viking  heroes  are  those  of 
their  own  times.  In  the  eyes  of  a  Viking,  the  slaughter 
of  an  enemy  was  not  a  crime,  but  a  noble  and  righteous 
deed;  and  on  the  other  hand,  he  would  cheerfully  lay 
down  his  life  for  a  friend. 

Ottilie  A.  Liljencrantz  had  a  most  charming  person- 
ality, and  she  was  an  honored  member  of  "  The  Little 
Room,"  "  The  Chicago  Woman's  Club,"  and  of  the 
"  Lyceum  Club  "  of  London. 

She  died  in  Chicago  on  the  seventh  of  October,  1910. 


A  VIKINGS 
Love 


A  Vl KINGS 

Love 


4^^pT  WAS  LONG  AGO,  WHEN  THE  WORLD 
lift  WAS  SO  YOUNG  THAT  PEACE  MEANT 
f8f<  LITTLE  MORE  THAN  A  BREATHING 
H|  SPELL  BETWEEN  BATTLES.  AT  THE 
H|  ROYAL  FARM  OF  AUGVALDSNES,  IN 
13  /:  NORWAY,  KING  OLAF  HARALDSSON 
Ifi  SAT  AT  AN  EASTER  FEAST  WITH  HIS 
|Q.  MEN. 

$l-'f*  Right  and  left  on  either  hand  the  long  tables 

f  lyS  stretched  away,  cleared  of  all  their  bounty,  save 
'^:,i.  two  lines  of  brimming  ale-horns.  Down  the 
^i  middle  of  the  hall  fires  burned  brightly,  flush- 
•  ing  the  delicate  faces  of  the  women  on  the 
^  cross-benches,  sending  the  golden  light  higher 

—  higher  —  until  every  shield  upon  the  tapes- 
tried wall  flashed  back  an  answer.     Overhead, 
through  the  smoke-holes  between  the   sooty 
^^^^    rafters,  shone  the  still  white  stars. 

"  So,  it  may  be,  the  eyes  of  angels  look  down  upon  our 
earthly  pastimes,"  King  Olaf  said  thoughtfully,  and  his 
stern  face  softened  with  the  satisfaction  he  had  in  a  scene 
of  such  orderly  good  cheer.  Rolling  his  ale  on  his  tongue, 
he  settled  himself  to  listen  to  a  man  who  had  just  risen 
from  a  place  on  the  left  of  the  high-seat. 
13 


VIKING'S 


LOVE 


Thorer  Sel  was  the  man's  name,  and  he  was  the  bailiff 
that  had  this  royal  farm  of  Augvaldsnes  under  his  man- 
agement. As  he  stood  now,  a  showy  figure  in  the  fire- 
light, he  would  have  been  good  to  look  at  if  his  eyes  had 
not  been  shifty  and  his  mouth  coarsely  overbearing.  He 
smiled  jeeringly  at  the  man  who  had  addressed  him. 

"  So  you  want  to  know  what  took  place  between  me 
and  your  friend,  Sigurd  Asbiornsson,  do  you?  "  he  asked. 

"If  you  will,"  the  man  on  the  bench  answered.  "I 
was  away  on  a  Viking  voyage  last  summer  when  it  hap- 
pened. 

Next  above  this  man  on  the  bench  sat  a  tall,  broad- 
shouldered  young  fellow  with  a  frank,  comely  face  and 
the  air  of  one  amiably  used  to  having  his  own  way.  He 
was  the  son  of  King  Olaf's  most  powerful  vassal,  and  his 
name  was  Erling  Erlingsson.  Now  suddenly  he,  too, 
spoke  up. 

"  I,  also,  would  like  to  hear  that  story.  If  it  is  true, 
as  I  have  heard  it,  then  are  you  the  only  man  in  the  world 
who  has  ever  made  Sigurd  Asbiornsson  bow  his  neck." 

Thorer  Sel  threw  him  a  glance  over  his  shoulder. 

"  I  forgot  that  it  would  not  sit  comfortably  in  your 
ears,"  he  said.  "  It  had  slipped  my  mind  that  the  Hal- 
ogalander  is  your  kinsman." 

"  Kinsman  or  not,  I  like  to  see  justice  done  to  men  of 
courage,"  young  Erlingsson  answered.  "  I  say,  in  the 
presence  of  everybody,  that  Sigurd  Asbiornsson  is  one 
of  the  bravest  men  that  ever  drew  sword  or  breath." 

"  The  story  will  show,"  Thorer  Sel  said  mockingly, 
and  began  forthwith. 

"  To  start  at  the  beginning,  Sigurd  Asbiornsson  is  the 
man  who  came  down  here  from  the  north  and  bought 


VIKING 


LOVE 


corn  and  malt  to  carry  home  for  the  entertaining  of  his 
friends,  though  it  was  well  known  to  him  that  because 
of  the  bad  seasons,  King  Olaf  had  forbidden  that  any 
meal  should  be  carried  out  of  the  south  of  the  country. 
Dauntless  as  I  am  wont,  I  went  down  where  he  had  put 
in  under  the  island  for  the  night  and  stripped  him  of  his 
cargo  and  his  fine  embroidered  sail,  and  drove  him  home 
in  disgrace  —  all  in  the  manner  which  I  will  truthfully 
relate." 

"  I  have  seen  that  you  have  his  sail  in  your  posses- 
sion," Erling  said  slowly,  "  but  only  he  could  convince 
me  that  you  got  it  without  a  trick,  if  you  got  it  against 
his  will." 

That  was  not  a  bad  guess,  since  the  only  cause  to 
which  the  bailiff  owed  his  success  was  his  forethought 
in  providing  himself  with  sixty  men,  as  against  Sigurd 
Asbiornsson's  twenty,  and  in  falling  upon  him  at  the 
moment  when  he  and  his  crew  were  dressing  after  a 
morning  swim  and  stood  utterly  defenseless  against 
attack.  But  a  guess  is  only  a  guess  —  and  no  one  stood 
up  to  confirm  it. 

"  The  story  will  show,"  sneered  Thorer  Sel,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  tell  it  at  great  length,  with  less  and  less  regard 
for  the  truth. 

He  drew  it  out  so  long  that  many  of  the  feasters  tired 
of  him  and  began  talking  among  themselves;  but  four 
people  continued  to  listen  attentively.  One  was  the 
Viking  who  had  asked  for  the  tale.  Another  was  Erling, 
ominously  fingering  his  sword-hilt.  A  third  was  a  young 
girl  sitting  among  the  matrons  on  the  cross-bench  —  a 
beautiful  girl  who  bore  her  small  fair  head  with  brave 
dignity.  The  fourth  was  a  strange  man  in  poor  attire 

15 


VIKING 


LOVE 


who  had  come  in  unnoticed  among  the  servants  that  were 
fetching  fresh  supplies  of  ale. 

The  stranger  listened  the  most  keenly  of  all  —  it 
almost  seemed  as  if  the  bailiff  might  have  left  him  hanging 
on  the  words.  Step  by  step,  he  was  drawn  forward  until 
only  a  space  of  bare  table  lay  between  him  and  the  story- 
teller. 

He  was  a  tall  man,  with  a  mighty  girth  of  chest  and 
limb.  For  all  that  he  wore  a  shabby  hat  and  held  a  hay- 
fork in  his  hand,  he  did  not  carry  himself  like  a  churl. 
As  he  moved  from  the  shadow  of  the  last  pillar  into  the 
firelight,  the  girl  on  the  cross-bench  stifled  an  exclama- 
tion, and  her  cheeks  went  white  as  the  linen  before  her. 

"Astrid,  my  friend,  what  ails  you?"  the  housewife 
beside  her  asked  kindly. 

A  woman  on  the  matron's  other  side  admonished  her 
with  a  nudge. 

"  Have  you  forgot,"  she  whispered,  "  that  Asbiornsson 
wooed  her  before  her  father  married  her  to  Hall  the 
Wealthy?  Naturally  she  would  be  troubled  at  hearing 
him  ill-spoken  of." 

Then  both  forgot  her  and  their  gossip  and  all  else. 

"  How  did  Sigurd  behave  when  you  unloaded  his  ves- 
sel? "  the  Viking  had  just  inquired. 

And  the  bailiff  had  answered  brazenly :  "  When  we 
•were  discharging  the  cargo,  he  bore  it  tolerably,  though 
not  well ;  but  when  we  took  the  sail  from  him,  he  wept." 

They  were  the  last  words  Thorer  Sel  spoke  on  earth. 
While  they  were  still  on  his  lips,  the  stranger  cleared  the 
table  at  a  bound.  There  was  a  flaming  of  warrior-scarlet 
from  under  homespun  gray,  a  hiss  of  steel,  the  sound  of 
a  blow — and  then  the  whole  room  seemed  turning  scarlet, 
16 


A          VIKING'S          LOVE 

and  the  head  of  Thorer  Sel  rolled  on  the  table  before  the 
king. 

"  Sigurd !  "  the  girl  on  the  cross-bench  cried  piercingly. 

"  Sigurd !"  shouted  young  Erlingsson,  leaping  to  his 
feet. 

After  that,  it  was  hard  to  tell  what  any  one  said. 
Pushing  forward  in  obedience  to  an  awful  gesture  from 
King  Olaf,  guards  laid  hold  of  Sigurd  Asbiornsson  and 
hurried  him  from  the  hall,  and  thralls  came  running  with 
towels  and  water  and  a  board.  While  some  took  up  what 
lay  heavily  among  the  reeds  of  the  floor,  others  spread 
fresh  linen,  and  still  others  removed  the  bespattered 
mantle  from  the  king's  shoulders.  Only  in  one  thing 
they  all  acted  alike  —  no  man  raised  his  eyes  to  the  king's 
furious  face. 

Of  a  different  mettle  was  Erling  Erlingsson.  Coming 
back  from  the  door  through  which  the  guards  had  led  his 
friend,  he  came  straight  up  to  the  high-seat. 

"  Lord,"  he  said,  "  I  will  pay  the  blood-money  for  your 
bailiff,  so  that  my  kinsman  may  retain  life  and  limbs.  All 
the  rest  do  according  to  your  pleasure." 

King  Olaf's  voice  was  very  low.  It  was  his  way  when 
his  rage  was  highest. 

"Is  it  not  a  matter  of  death,  Erling,  when  a  man 
breaks  the  Easter  peace,  and  breaks  it  in  the  king's  lodg- 
ings, and  makes  the  king's  feet  his  execution-block? 
Though  it  may  well  be  that  it  seems  a  small  matter  to 
you  and  your  father!"  His  teeth  showed  through  his 
quietness. 

Erling  tried  his  unpractised  tongue  at  entreaty. 

"  The  deed  is  ill-done,  Lord,  in  so  far  as  it  displeases 
you,  though  otherwise  done  excellently  well.  But  though 

17 


VIKING'S 


LOVE 


it  is  so  much  against  your  will,  yet  may  I  not  expect 
something  for  my  services  to  you?  " 

After  a  little,  King  Olaf  said : 

"  You  have  made  me  greatly  indebted  to  you,  Erling, 
but  even  for  your  sake  I  will  not  break  the  law  nor  cast 
aside  my  own  dignity." 

By  a  gesture  he  forbade  a  reply,  and  spoke  on,  asking 
what  had  been  done  with  the  murderer. 

"  He  sits  in  irons,  upon  the  doorstep,  with  his  guard," 
Erling  said,  heavily. 

Then  he  roused  himself  to  ask  one  thing  which  he 
thought  might  not  be  denied  him. 

"  Lord,  it  is  a  year  since  I  have  seen  him,  and  we  have 
been  blood-brothers  since  we  were  children.  Give  him 
into  my  charge  this  one  night,  and  I  will  answer  for  him 
in  the  morning." 

After  a  long  time,  King  Olaf  said  grimly : 

"  It  is  true  that  to  hang  a  man  after  sunset  is  called 
murder.  Take  him,  then,  for  the  rest  of  the  night.  But 
know  for  certain  that  your  own  life  shall  pay  for  it  if  he 
escape  in  any  way." 

"  It  must  be  as  you  will,"  Erling  answered,  and  went 
out  of  the  f easting-hall  that  but  a  short  while  before  had 
seemed  to  him  a  place  of  such  good  cheer. 

Upon  the  doorstep,  ironed  hand  and  foot,  Sigurd 
Asbiornsson  sat  listening  quietly  to  the  excited  expostu- 
lations of  his  guard.  Now  that  the  broad-brimmed  hat 
had  fallen  off,  it  could  be  seen  that  there  was  nothing 
blood-thirsty  in  his  handsome  sun-browned  face.  Strong- 
willed  and  proud  and  hard,  it  might  be,  and  yet  in  some 
delicate  curve  of  his  mouth,  some  light  of  his  fine  gray 
eyes,  lay  that  which  won  him,  unsought,  women's  trust 
18 


VIKING'S 


LOVE 


and  men's  love.  He  looked  up  with  a  smile  to  meet 
Erling's  troubled  gaze. 

"  Why  take  your  failure  so  much  to  heart,  comrade?  " 
he  remonstrated.  "  I  came  prepared  to  pay  Olaf's  price. 
Stay  here  by  me  that  we  may  at  least  have  to-night 
together,  for  I  suppose  he  thinks  too  much  of  his  won- 
derful laws  to  hang  me  before  sunrise." 

Nodding,  Erling  turned  and  spoke  to  one  of  the 
guards,  who  caught  up  a  hammer  and  commenced  knock- 
ing the  chains  off  the  prisoner's  limbs  with  far  greater 
alacrity  than  he  had  shown  in  putting  them  on. 

"  What  is  the  meaning  of  that?  "  Sigurd  asked  in  sur- 
prise. 

"  Olaf  has  given  you  into  my  charge  until  morning," 
Erling  explained  briefly. 

For  as  long  as  the  space  between  one  breath  and  the 
next,  the  prisoner  grew  tense  and  alert. 

"  What  pledge  did  you  give  for  my  safety?  "  he  asked 
quickly. 

Less  quickly,  Erling  answered :    "  My  own  life." 

The  half-formed  hope  faded.  Sigurd's  mighty  frame 
relaxed. 

"  I  give  you  thanks,"  he  said,  and  no  more  was  spoken 
on  the  subject. 

One  by  one,  the  guards  drifted  back  to  the  ale-horns, 
and  the  friends  were  left  alone  in  the  starlit  silence  of  the 
courtyard.  Suddenly,  Erling  laid  hold  of  the  great  shoul- 
ders before  him  and  shook  him  fiercely,  while  at  the  same 
time  his  fingers  clung  to  them  in  a  caress. 

"  You  madman ! "  he  burst  out.  "  Could  you  not 
guess  that  I  was  going  to  kill  him  for  you?  Olaf  dare 
not  slay  me  —  a  fine  would  be  the  uttermost.  What  fiend 

19 


VIKING'S 


LOVE 


possessed  you !  Did  you  imagine  Olaf  loved  you  because 
you  had  always  defied  his  laws?  You  madman!  Did 
you  not  know  that  I  would  do  it  for  you?" 

"  Would  that  have  rubbed  out  my  disgrace,  if  you  had 
done  it  for  me?  "  Sigurd  asked  quietly. 

He  laid  his  hands  on  the  other's  shoulders,  and  they 
stood  breast  to  breast  and  eye  to  eye. 

"  Come,  come,  kinsman,  these  are  useless  words ;  why 
waste  breath  on  them?  If  you  knew  how  Thorer  Sel 
spoke  to  me  that  morning  —  spoke  to  me  before  my  men ! 
—  and  how  the  tale  spread  nothward  until  churls  that 
had  never  dared  sneer  behind  my  back  before,  taunted 
me  to  my  face!  No,  no,  it  was  the  only  way  to  do  it, 
boldly  and  openly,  with  every  one  looking  on.  Now  I 
shall  leave  a  clean  name  behind  me.  What  more  could  I 
do  if  I  lived  to  be  a  hundred?  " 

Erling  was  silent ;  only,  his  hands  that  rested  on  his 
friend's  shoulders  gripped  and  held  them  so  that  marks 
were  left  on  the  flesh,  and  the  two  men  remained  looking 
into  each  other's  eyes  until  a  mist  came  between. 

Then,  without  speaking,  they  freed  each  other;  and 
Sigurd  said  quickly: 

"One  more  thing  lies  on  me  to  do.  Will  you 
help  me?  " 

"  I  trust  there  is  killing  in  it,"  Erling  said  through  his 
teeth. 

"  It  is  to  get  a  message  to  Astrid,  Gudbrand's  daugh- 
ter," Sigurd  replied. 

Erling  cried  out  in  amazement :  "  The  wife  of  Hall 
the  Wealthy!" 

"  Hall  the  Wealthy  has  been  dead  two  seasons." 


VIKING 


LOVE 


But  Erling  exclaimed  again:  "Gudbrand's  daughter! 
Of  whom  you  could  not  speak  bitter  words  enough  — 
even  though  you  knew  they  would  reach  her  ear ! " 

"  I  spoke  unfairly,"  Sigurd  said,  flushing.  "  She  sent 
me  a  token  that  I  did  not  receive  —  I  cannot  tell  you 
more.  I  do  not  ask  now  that  she  should  stoop  to  see  me 
herself,  but  if  she  would  send  some  woman  who  has  her 
confidence  —  if  I  could  speak  my  message  to  her  with  the 
certainty  that  it  would  come  truthfully  to  Astrid's 

ear "  His  dark  face  flushed  redder  and  redder  in 

the  moonlight,  and  he  did  not  turn  away  to  hide  it.  "  It 
is  the  greatest  service  you  could  render  me,  kinsman," 
he  finished. 

Stifling  an  impatient  breath,  Erling  flung  the  end  of 
his  cloak  over  his  shoulder  and  turned. 

"  The  sooner  the  better,  then  —  before  they  are  gone 
to  bed.  Wait  in  the  herb-garden,  yonder.  It  is  the  spot 
where  you  will  be  the  least  liable  to  interruption." 

Netted  around  with  bare  bushes  and  strewn  underfoot 
with  shriveled  leaves,  the  herb-garden  lay  in  desolation. 
Yet  even  here  the  slender  sides  of  branches  showed  the 
swelling  hopes  of  springtime.  A  thought  came  to  Sigurd 
of  the  budding  trees  at  home,  and  the  harvest  he  would 
never  reap ;  then  he  thrust  it  from  him  angrily,  and  strode 
up  and  down  the  pathway,  waiting. 

Three  times  the  wind  rustling  through  the  bushes 
tricked  him.  But  at  last  there  was  the  ring  of  spurs  on 
gravel,  and  Erling  came  out  of  the  shadows,  followed  by 
a  slender  figure  wrapped  from  head  to  foot  in  a  hooded 
cloak  of  blue. 

Trying  to  guess  which  one  of  Astrid's  women  the 
21 


VIKING'S 


LOVE 


silken  folds  hid,  Sigurd  stood  gazing  at  her  silently.  She 
halted  before  him  without  speaking;  but  Erling  said 
shortly: 

"You  have  little  enough  time.  I  was  only  able  to 
manage  it  because  Gudbrand  is  still  swilling  drink  in  the 
hall.  The  instant  I  see  his  torch-bearers,  I  shall  call 
you." 

He  disappeared  again  into  the  gloom  that  lay  between 
them  and  the  gate. 

Unconsciously,  Sigurd's  glance  must  have  followed 
hun,  for  when  it  came  back  to  the  girl,  she  had  answered 
the  question  in  his  mind.  The  blue  hood  was  thrown 
back,  and  the  moon  shone  on  a  small  fair  head,  upborne 
with  brave  dignity,  even  while  the  lovely  eyes  and  lips 
were  tremulous. 

"Astrid!"  he  breathed. 

She  returned  his  look  with  the  grave  steadiness  that 
was  a  little  pathetic  in  so  young  a  girl. 

"  For  the  second  time  I  have  lowered  the  point  of  my 
pride  to  you,"  she  said.  "Are  you  going  to  make  me 
sorry  this  time  also?  " 

He  began  to  speak  eagerly.  It  seemed  that  he  would 
have  caught  her  hands  if  he  had  dared. 

"  Astrid,  I  was  not  to  blame !  I  beg  you  not  to  believe 
that  I  would  slight  a  token  from  you  v/ho  have  always  sat 
highest  in  my  heart.  The  churl  you  gave  your  rune-ring 
to  —  he  must  have  mislaid  it,  and  then  feared  to  give  it  to 
me  when  he  found  it  afterwards.  Not  until  this  Spring, 
when  he  died  and  his  relation  came  upon  it  among  his 
things  and  brought  it  to  me,  did  I  know  that  you  had 
sent  me  a  message  of  love  after  your  father  refused  to 


VIKING 


LOVE 


bargain  with  me.  Because  I  was  not  in  the  king's  service, 
Gudbrand  was  even  disrespectful  in  his  treatment  of  me. 
And  the  next  month,  I  heard  that  you  had  married  Hall. 
And  I  had  had  no  farewell  from  you.  What  could  I  think 
but  that  you  had  held  me  lightly,  and  lightly  let  me  go? 
What  else  could  I  think?" 

"  You  could  have  remembered  that  I  was  helpless," 
Astrid  answered  slowly.  "  Could  I  wed  you  against  my 
father's  will?  Could  I  hold  back  from  marrying  Hall, 
though  he  was  in  everything  what  I  detested  most?  " 

She  steadied  her  lip  in  her  little  white  teeth. 

"You  could  have  believed  in  me,"  she  said,  "as  I 
would  have  believed  in  you.  Three  seasons  we  had 
spoken  and  feasted  and  ridden  together,  and  when  had 
you  ever  found  me  changeable  toward  my  friends,  or 
greedy  after  gold?  You  could  have  believed  in  me." 

"  I  ought  to  have  believed,"  Sigurd  said  humbly. 

His  face  had  grown  white,  as  no  man  had  ever  seen  it. 
Even  when  spurs  clanked  on  the  path,  he  stood  before 
her  helplessly. 

"  I  ought  to  have  believed,"  was  all  he  could  say. 

Moving  a  step  nearer,  she  laid  her  hands  upon  his 
breast  and  looked  up  at  him  with  a  little  flickering  smile. 

"  You  would  have  believed  —  if  you  had  loved  me  as  I 
loved  you,"  she  said. 

She  touched  her  finger  to  his  lips,  as  he  would  have 
cried  out. 

"  I  do  not  think  it  is  in  your  nature  to  feel  much  love 
for  a  woman,  my  friend.  If  you  had  not  loved  your  own 
way  better  than  me,  would  you  not  have  entered  the 
king's  service  to  win  me,  when  only  that  lay  between  us? 

23 


A 


VIKING'S         LOVE 


Your  land  —  your  chief  ship  over  your  men  —  the  freedom 
to  do  as  you  pleased  —  all  those  you  loved ;  and  what  was 
left  over,  you  gave  to  me.  It  was  not  very  much,  was  it? 
Yet  perhaps  it  does  not  matter,  since  I  was  so  glad  to 
get  it." 

Though  her  eyes  were  misty  with  tears,  she  held  up 
her  mouth  to  him  bravely. 

"I  give  you  thanks  for  telling  me,"  he  whispered 
softly,  when  he  had  kissed  her. 

As  Erling's  voice  sounded  urgently,  she  drew  her 
hood  over  her  head  and  was  gone. 

It  was  a  soberly  thoughtful  man  that  was  pacing  the 
garden-paths  when  Erling  came  back.  They  walked 
away  the  rest  of  the  night  in  silence,  while  the  moon 
went  on  in  darkness,  and  the  gray  dawn  which  is  neither 
light  nor  shadow  spread  coldly  over  the  sky. 

It  was  this  new  expression  which  caught  King  Olaf's 
eye,  when  he  and  his  outlaw  faced  each  other  again. 

With  the  first  burst  of  morning  sunshine,  the  king 
came  out  of  the  hall  on  his  way  to  mass,  followed  by  the 
high-born  people  of  his  household.  Blinking  laughingly 
in  the  dazzle,  and  drawing  in  great  breaths  of  the  fresh 
sweet  air,  the  retinue  made  an  odd  contrast  to  the  other 
group  waiting  on  the  doorstep  —  three  swarthy  thralls 
testing  a  coil  of  rope  in  their  hairy  fists,  and  Sigurd 
Asbiornsson  once  more  ironed  and  guarded. 

King  Olaf  stopped  abruptly. 

"  How  is  it  that  things  which  I  dislike  are  always  kept 
before  my  mind?  "  he  demanded.  "  Why  was  he  not  put 
to  death  at  sunrise?  " 


VIKING'S 


LOVE 


The  guard  answered  that  the  king  had  named  no  defi- 
nite time,  and  they  feared  to  misunderstand  his  will. 

"I  have  seldom  heard  a  poorer  excuse,"  King  Olaf 
returned  coldly. 

But  he  did  not  make  his  will  clearer.  He  remained 
scrutinizing  the  prisoner  with  a  touch  of  uncertainty  in 
his  strongly  marked  brows.  Fearless,  Sigurd  Asbiorns- 
son  looked,  as  always,  but  for  the  first  time  that  some- 
thing seemed  gone  from  his  boldness  which  had  stirred 
the  king's  temper  against  him. 

Olaf  smiled  slowly  as  a  test  came  to  his  mind. 

"  To  please  your  friends,  Sigurd,"  he  said, "  I  will  make 
you  an  offer  which  you  can  do  as  you  like  about  accept- 
ing. It  is  the  law  of  the  land  that  a  man  who  kills  a 
servant  of  the  king  shall  undertake  that  man's  service,  if 
the  king  will.  Would  you  submit  to  that  law,  and  under- 
take the  office  of  bailiff  which  Thorer  Sel  had,  if  I  gave 
you  life  and  safety  in  return?  " 

He  gathered  up  his  mantle  to  depart,  as  he  concluded, 
so  sure  was  he  that  his  offer  would  be  rejected.  Of  all 
the  throng,  from  Gudbrand's  daughter  to  Erling,  not  one 
believed  that  it  stood  any  chance  of  acceptance.  They 
almost  ceased  to  breathe  when  —  slowly  —  with  a  flaming 
face  and  the  stiffness  of  a  pride  that  was  cracking  at  the 
joints,  Sigurd  Asbiornsson  bent  his  head  and  kissed  the 
king's  hand. 

Not  to  save  his  life  could  he  have  spoken.  His  power 
of  speech  did  not  come  back  to  him  until  the  church- 
goers had  swept  on  across  the  court,  and  he  was  left  alone 
with  Astrid  in  his  arms. 

25 


"  Do  you  believe  now  that  I  love  you?  "  he  asked,  rais- 
ing her  face  between  his  hands. 

Then  it  smote  his  heart  that  he  should  even  seem  to 
reproach  her,  and  he  finished  lightly: 

"What  does  it  matter?  We  will  make  a  jest  of  it 
between  ourselves.  Let  the  world  think  me  the  king's 
man  —  we  know  that  I  am  yours !  " 


THE  HOSTAGE 


THE  HOSTAGE 

0^^p  SEEK  TO  TELL  OF  A  DANISH  HOSTAGE, 
CALLED  VALGARD  THE  FAIR,  THAT 
IN  HIS  YOUTH  WAS  CEDED  TO  OUR 
GREAT  ALFRED  BY  THE  DANISH  KING 
GUTHRUM  WHEN  THEY  TWO  MADE 
PEACE  TOGETHER  IN  THE  YEAR 
EIGHT  HUNDRED  AND  SEVENTY- 
EIGHT. 

From    Denmark   young   Valgard   came   to 
England  in  the  following  of  Ogmund  Monks- 
bane,  who  was  his  elder  brother  and  Guthrum's 
first  war  chief;  and  though  no  warrior  of  more 
accursed  memory  than  this  same  Ogmund  ever 
fed  the  ravens,  it  was  known  that  toward  his 
young  brother  alone  of  all  living  things  he 
showed  a  human  heart.     Wherefore  those  on 
^H          whom  it  lay  to  choose  the  hostages  were  swift 
^^^^   to  name  the  comely  boy  as  the  one  pledge  that 
might  clinch  the  Monks-bane's  shifty  faith.     And  that 
nothing  might  be  lacking,  they  further  fixed  it  in  the  bond 
what  would  be  the  fate  of  Valgard  and  the  eleven  other 
hostages  if  they  that  gave  them  should  break  any  part  of 
their  oath;  and  it  was  this  —  that  the  discipline  of  the 
Holy  Church  should  take  hold  of  them,  and  after  that 
they  should  die  a  shameful  death. 

A  snared  and  a  savage  man  was  Ogmund  Monks-bane 
when  they  brought  this  word  to  the  tent  of  skins  in  which 
he  laired ;  and  it  saddened  him  besides  that  the  boy  Val- 
gard strove  to  contend  him,  saying : 
29 


VIKING'S 


LOVE 


"  It  will  be  no  hindrance  to  you,  kinsman.  Never  will 
you  so  much  as  think  of  me  when  the  battle-lust  comes 
on  you.  And  I  shall  bear  it  well." 

In  our  king's  will  at  London,  therefore,  young  Valgard 
grew  into  man's  estate  and,  contrary  to  his  expectations, 
throve  mightily,  discovering  a  rare  aptitude  for  gentle  ac- 
complishments. And  for  that  his  heart  was  noble  as 
well  as  brave  and  he  was  as  debonair e  as  he  was  comely, 
the  king  and  the  royal  household  came  to  love  him  ex- 
ceeding well  until  —  as  the  years  went  by  and  the  peace 
held  —  they  scarcely  remembered  that  he  might  one  day 
stand  as  a  scapegoat  for  loathsomest  crimes  against  them. 

Only  Vangard  himself  never  for  the  span  of  one 
candle's  burning  forgot  it.  Like  poison  at  the  bottom  of 
a  honeyed  cup  it  lay  behind  every  honor  he  achieved. 
Yet  even  as  he  had  promised  his  brother,  he  bore  it  well 
and  gallantly  enough  —  until,  in  the  sixth  year  of  his 
captivity,  it  fortuned  to  him  to  fall  in  love. 

She  of  whom  he  become  enamoured  was  a  young  maid 
in  the  queen's  service,  whose  rightful  name  was  Adeleve 
but  whom  men  called  Little  Nun  both  by  virtue  of  the 
celestial  sweetness  of  her  face  and  because  of  her  being 
but  newly  come  from  a  cloister  school.  And  in  this 
cloister  they  had  taught  her  so  much  of  heaven  and  so 
little  of  earth  that  whenso  her  heart  was  taken  by  Val- 
gard's  brave  and  debonaire  ways  she  knew  neither  fear 
nor  shame  therein,  but  continued  to  demean  herself  with 
the  lovely  straightforwardness  of  an  angel  or  a  child. 
Wherefore  Valgard,  who  was  used  to  women  that  smiled 
at  him  from  under  heavy  lids  or  drew  full  red  lips  into 
rosebuds  of  enticement,  might  not  dream  that  she  felt 
more  than  friendship.  And  since  in  her  presence  he  was 

30 


>*• 


THE 


HOSTAGE 


always  silent  and  humble  as  he  had  been  before  Our 
Blessed  Lady  herself,  though  elsewhere  light  speeches 
sparkled  on  his  lips  as  bubbles  on  the  clear  wine,  he  wist 
not  for  a  long  time  the  true  name  of  what  he  felt. 

But  one  day  at  that  season  of  the  year  when  the  king's 
household  rode  often  to  hunt  the  wild  boar  in  the  woody 
groves  that  compassed  London  round,  it  happened  to 
Valgard  to  become  separated  from  the  rest  and  stray 
alone  through  still  and  shadowy  glades.  There  in  the 
solitude,  as  was  ever  his  unhappy  case,  his  gayety  fell 
away  and  his  forebodings  climbed  up  behind  and  went 
with  him  heavily.  Riding  thus,  it  chanced  to  him  to  ap- 
proach the  spot  where  the  queen  and  her  maidens  tarried 
and  so  to  come  upon  the  Little  Nun  herself,  that  also 
rode  apart,  following  a  brook  which  sang  as  it  went. 
Then  at  last  was  he  made  aware  of  his  love,  for  suddenly 
it  was  neither  a  dislike  of  death  nor  any  rebellious  wish 
to  flee  therefrom  that  possessed  him,  but  solely  the  dread 
of  being  parted  from  her,  which  so  racked  him  that  he 
was  in  very  agony. 

Now  as  soon  as  ever  Little  Nun  perceived  that  a  great 
trouble  was  upon  him  she  spoke  straight  from  her  heart, 
though  timidly  as  a  child  knowing  the  narrowness  of  its 
power,  and  prayed  him  to  say  whether  his  distress  were 
aught  which  her  love  might  assuage.  When  he  heard  her 
speak  thus  sweetly  and  marked  the  angelic  tenderness  of 
her  eyes  under  her  little  dove-colored  hood,  lo !  everything 
fell  clean  out  of  his  mind  before  one  almighty  longing. 
Descending  from  his  horse,  he  took  her  hands  and  spoke 
to  her  passionately,  so : 

"  Tell  me  whether  you  love  me.  My  heart  cries  out 
for  you  with  every  beat.  Must  it  be  as  the  voice  of  one 

31 


VIKING'S 


LOVE 


calling  into  emptiness?  Tell  me  that  you  return  my  love 
and  my  life  will  be  whole  though  it  end  to-night." 

The  Little  Nun's  face  of  cloistral  paleness  flushed 
deeply  like  an  alabaster  vase  into  which  is  being  poured 
the  red  wine  of  the  sacrament,  but  her  crystalline  eyes 
neither  fell  nor  turned  aside. 

"  I  love  you  as  much  as  you  love  me  —  and  more,"  she 
answered  softly. 

Whereupon  he  would  have  caught  her  in  passionate 
arms,  but  that  even  as  he  reached  this  pinnacle  of  bliss  it 
came  back  to  him  how  he  was  a  doomed  man ;  and  he  was 
as  one  that  is  cast  down  from  a  height  and  stunned  by  the 
fall. 

Anon  his  voice  returned,  and  sinking  to  his  knee  he 
begged  her  in  broken  words  to  forgive  the  wrong  he  had 
done  her  in  gaining  her  love,  that  well  knew  himself  to  be 
set  aside  for  shame  and  dole  and  apart  from  the  favor  of 
woman. 

To  which  the  Little  Nun  listened  as  it  might  be  one  of 
God's  angels,  bending  over  the  golden  bar  of  Heaven, 
would  listen  to  the  wailing  in  the  Pit.  And  so  soon  as 
he  paused  she  spoke  with  halting  breath. 

"  Alas,  could  anything  so  cruel  happen?  Ah,  no !  The 
peace  has  held  six  years  —  the  king  believes  it  firm  —  and 
every  night  and  morning  I  will  pray  to  Our  Lady  to 
change  your  brother's  heart." 

As  she  said  this,  her  face  bloomed  again  with  her  hope. 
But  Valgard  only  bowed  his  head  upon  his  hands  and 
groaned;  for  that  albeit  he  had  faith  in  the  Virgin,  he 
knew  the  nature  of  Ogmund  Monks-bane. 

Soon  after,  constraining  himself  to  hardness  for  her 
sake,  he  rose  and  drew  her  away  and  continued  to  speak 


THE 


HOSTAGE 


with  the  dulness  of  one  in  great  pain,  schooling  her  how 
she  must  put  him  from  her  heart  and  forget  him. 

But  to  that,  when  she  had  listened  a  while  with  widen- 
ing eyes,  the  Little  Nun  cried  out  piteously : 

"  Alas !  what  then  shall  I  do  with  my  love  ?  It  came 
into  being  before  you  called  it  —  it  cannot  cease  at  your 
bidding.  Oh,  if  it  be  God's  will  that  we  shall  have  a  long 
life  together,  then  God's  will  be  done,  but  make  not  a 
thwarted  useless  thing  out  of  the  love  which  He  has  per- 
mitted me!  Let  me  give  it  to  you.  Even  though  it  be 
too  poor  to  ease  you  much,  yet  let  me  give  it !  How  else 
shall  I  find  comfort?  " 

Suddenly,  as  their  eyes  met,  she  stretched  out  her 
hands  to  him  with  a  little  sobbing  cry  that  was  halfl 
piteous  and  half  pitying.  And  so  drew  him  back,  malgre 
his  will,  until  he  had  put  his  arms  about  her  where  she 
sat  in  the  saddle  above  him,  when  she  gathered  his  head 
to  her  breast  and  cherished  it  there,  with  little  soft  word- 
less sounds  of  comforting. 

Thus,  for  that  he  was  so  well-nigh  spent  with  strug- 
gling, he  leaned  a  while  upon  her  love.  And  it  heartened 
him.  And  he  lifted  his  head,  thinking  to  set  burning 
lips  to  her  sweet  mouth. 

But  even  as  he  thought  to  do  this,  something  in  him- 
self or  her  checked  him,  so  that  he  kissed  instead  her 
small  ministering  hands.  Wherefore  the  Little  Nun  re- 
mained unstartled  and  blessedly  trustful,  and  raising  her 
eyes  to  the  blue  heavens  of  which  they  seemed  so  much 
a  part  prayed  softly  to  Our  Dear  Lady  to  keep  true  the 
heart  of  Ogmund  Monks-bane. 

The  fourth  morning  after  this,  the  queen's  maiden 
Adeleve  was  wedded  to  Valgard  the  Hostage.  And  that 

33 


VIKING'S 


LOVE 


day  at  noon  did  our  benignant  king  and  his  housewifely 
queen  make  a  marriage  feast  for  the  young  pair  that  both 
of  them  held  dear.  A  marriage  feast,  well-a-way ! 

It  happened  to  the  sweet  bride  to  come  to  it  last  and 
alone,  for  that  she  had  lingered  above  to  pray  once  more 
to  her  on  whom  she  fixed  her  faith.  Blissfully  enough 
she  began  the  descent  of  the  stairs  that  cored  the  massive 
wall;  but  ere  she  reached  the  foot,  where  a  door  gave 
upon  the  king's  hall,  dead  was  her  joy.  For  this  is  what 
befell. 

First,  a  quavering  shriek  as  of  an  aged  woman  stabbed 
by  evil  tidings ;  and  after  that  a  deathlike  stillness.  Then 
the  door  opened  and  a  girl  staggered  forth  up  the  stairs, 
her  hands  groping  before  her  as  her  staring  eyes  had  been 
sightless,  the  while  she  moaned  over  and  over  the  name 
of  her  soldier  lover. 

Though  she  knew  not  why,  little  Adeleve  shrank  from 
the  groping  hands  and  crept  by  them  down  the  stairs. 
Whither  rose  these  words  in  a  man's  loud  voice : 

"  —  but  last  week  came  a  load  of  Danish  pirates  to 
the  shore,  reeking  of  slaughter  and  gorged  with  Irish 
spoil.  And  every  night  thereafter  a  band  of  them  sat  at 
drink  with  the  Monks-bane,  stirring  his  fighting  lust, 
until " 

Here  the  voice  was  lost  in  the  outburst  of  many  voices, 
till  it  overleapt  them  hoarsely  to  answer  a  question  from 
the  king. 

"  The  twoscore  English  soldiers  I  named  to  your 
grace;  besides  all  the  nuns  of  Saint  Helena's  that  lie 
stark  in  their  blood " 

Then  once  again  the  tumult  rose,  which  now  there 
was  no  overleaping,  and  the  bride  cowering  against  the 

34 


THE 


HOSTAGE 


wall  saw  how  all  heads  turned  toward  him  who  stood 
opposite  the  king  in  the  mockery  of  gay  feasting  clothes. 
And  suddenly  one  called  down  Christ's  curse  on  the  race 
of  Ogmund  Monks-bane,  and  a  second  echoed  the  cry. 
Whereat  the  other  Danish  hostages  —  to  show  that  their 
hands  were  clean  —  took  up  the  shout  more  fierce  than 
any,  and  smote  Valgard  so  that  he  reeled  under  their 
fists.  And  the  aged  woman  whose  son  had  been  slain 
flung  her  cup  of  wine  in  his  face. 

Thereafter  the  young  wife  saw  only  the  figure  of  her 
doomed  lord  upon  whom  it  seemed  that  the  curses  de- 
scended as  a  visible  blight,  withering  to  ghastliness  his 
fresh  beauty  and  blasting  his  spirit  so  that  he  shrank 
farther  and  farther  from  the  damning  looks  and  tongues 
till  he  might  no  longer  in  any  wise  endure  them,  but  call- 
ing in  agony  upon  his  God  strove  with  his  hands  to  stop 
his  sight  and  his  hearing.  And  when  presently  he 
became  aware  of  the  Little  Nun  approaching,  he  cried 
out  to  know  whether  she  also  was  come  to  curse  him,  and 
bent  his  arms  around  his  head  as  against  a  blow. 

But  even  as  he  did  this,  he  met  the  anguished  love  in 
her  eyes  and  saw  how  she  was  laboring  to  make  of  her 
fragile  self  a  buckler  for  him  against  the  press  of  crowd- 
ing bodies;  whereupon  he  caught  hold  of  her  shoulder 
and  held  to  her  as  a  man  sinking  into  Hell  might  hold  to 
the  robe  of  an  angel.  Until  brutal  hands  thrust  her  one 
way  and  dragged  him  the  other. 

Now  the  sentence  was  that  he  should  die  at  sunrise, 
unto  which  time  the  Church  should  have  him  to  chasten. 
And  this  sentence  our  king  might  not  alter,  for  that  he 
was  called  the  Truth-teller  and  had  sworn  to  take  the 
atonement  of  life  for  any  breach  of  the  faith.  But  this 

35 


VIKING 


LOVE 


much  he  granted,  out  of  the  pity  and  love  he  had  toward 
the  young  pair,  that  they  might  be  together  when  the 
end  drew  near.  And  stranger  than  betrothal  or  marriage 
feast  was  this  vigil  of  their  wedding  night ! 

Strange  was  all  the  world  now  to  the  Little  Nun,  since 
the  arch  of  her  Heaven  had  fallen  about  her  with  the  de- 
struction of  its  keystone,  which  was  her  faith  in  the  Vir- 
gin. As  the  white  dove  of  the  Ark  hovering  over  a 
changed  earth  whereon  it  might  see  no  familiar  foothold, 
she  hung  f  alteringly  on  the  threshold  of  the  king's  chapel, 
while  the  bells  tolled  the  midnight  hour,  gazing  at  the 
group  of  deathful  men  looming  amid  blended  smoke  and 
starlight  and  torch-glare,  at  the  pitiless  shining  figure  of 
Our  Lady  above  the  altar,  at  him  who  stood  in  grim  en- 
durance before  it,  stripped  to  naked  feet  and  a  single  gar- 
ment of  horsehair. 

When  Valgard  felt  her  eyes  and  turned  his  set  face 
toward  her,  she  fluttered  to  him  as  the  dove  to  the  Ark. 
But  no  longer  to  brood  or  minister;  only  to  cling  to  him 
in  utter  helpless  woe  of  her  helpless  love.  And  when  it 
happened  to  her  hand  to  touch  his  horsehair  shirt  where 
it  was  wet  with  the  blood  of  his  atonement,  she  screamed 
sharply  and  was  like  to  go  wild  with  weeping  over  him 
and  lamenting  that  she  might  not  bear  any  of  his  punish- 
ment on  her  own  soft  flesh.  It  was  he  that  kneeling  on 
the  stones  gathered  her  to  his  breast  and  cherished  her, 
speaking  to  comfort  her  such  words  of  resignation  as  no 
priest's  scourge  had  drawn  from  him  with  his  life-blood. 

Lo !  it  was  so  that  from  the  very  helplessness  of  her 
love  he  drew  his  best  strength,  that  he  no  longer  cared 
anything  at  all  for  his  own  woe  but  only  for  lightening 
hers.  When  she  cried  out  piteously  that  she  must  always 


THE 


HOSTAGE 


fear  Christ's  Mother  now  her  whole  life  long,  and  all  the 
world  saving  him  alone,  he  spoke  with  tenderest  artful- 
ness, thus : 

"For  my  sake  then,  heart  beloved  of  my  heart!  Be 
brave  for  my  sake  —  because  your  tears  are  the  only  part 
of  my  doom  that  is  heavier  than  I  can  bear." 

Which  was  the  one  plea  in  all  the  world  that  had  a 
meaning  for  her,  so  that  she  tried  obediently  to  choke 
down  her  sobs. 

Yet  which  was  the  easier  to  bear,  her  courage  or  her 
tears,  it  were  hard  to  say.  When  the  time  of  parting  came 
and  she  had  suffered  him  to  loosen  her  clinging  hands  and 
fold  them  upon  her  breast  and  leave  her,  a  little  white  and 
shaking  figure  at  the  Virgin's  feet,  it  seemed  to  Valgard 
looking  back  that  death  was  easier  to  him  than  life,  and  he 
pressed  with  mad  haste  upon  those  who  went  before  him 
to  the  door. 

Now  in  this  vill  it  was  that  the  king's  chapel  was  hol- 
lowed out  of  the  wall  of  the  king's  hall;  wherefore  the 
opening  of  the  door  permitted  Valgard  and  those  sur- 
rounding him  to  look  down  into  the  great  dun  room 
wherein  our  king  kept  sorrowful  vigil  with  his  knights, 
and  to  behold  also  a  man  that  stood  before  the  high-seat 
with  the  mud  and  mire  of  the  road  yet  besmirching  him. 
Upon  whom  Valgard's  glance  fell  amazedly  for  that  he 
knew  him  to  be  a  Danish  thrall  and  his  brother's  trusted 
slave,  albeit  the  Monks-bane  had  used  him  so  cruelly  that 
some  of  his  features  were  lacking. 

As  the  door  opened,  the  thrall  began  speaking,  thus, 
in  the  dull  voice  of  one  who  has  neither  wit  nor  will  but 
only  dogged  faithfulness : 

"This  is  the  message  of  Ogmund  Monks-bane,  that 

37 


VIKING'S 


LOVE 


because  as  soon  as  he  got  into  his  senses  again  he  disliked 
the  thought  that  he  should  cause  the  death  of  his  brother 
whom  he  loved,  he  sends  you  this  atonement." 

Saying  which,  he  thrust  his  hand  under  his  cloak  and 
drew  therefrom,  by  the  knotted  yellow  hair,  a  bloody 
head.  And  the  ashen  face  on  the  head  was  the  face  of 
Ogmund  Monks-bane. 

Through  stillness,  the  thrall  spoke  again.  "  Do  you 
accept  this  atonement,  king?  " 

To  whom,  after  a  little  time  has  passed,  our  king  an- 
swered in  a  strange  voice :  "  I  accept  this  atonement." 

Then,  his  task  being  accomplished,  the  thrall  loosed 
an  awful  discordant  sound  of  grief ;  and  raising  the  head 
between  his  palms  kissed  it  on  either  cheek,  crying : 

"  I  slew  you  and  I  brought  you  hither  because  I  have 
never  dared  go  against  your  will  in  anything,  but  even 
you  cannot  hinder  me  from  following  you  now !  " 

Wherewith  he  slew  himself  with  the  knife  he  had  at 
his  belt.  And  the  sound  of  his  falling  body  broke  the 
spell,  so  that  the  bars  of  silence  were  let  down  and  men's 
voices  rushed  in  like  lowing  cattle. 

Excepting  only  in  the  little  chapel  in  the  wall.  There 
Valgard  stood  as  a  man  in  a  dream,  gazing  on  the  dead 
face  of  his  brother;  while  the  Little  Nun,  clasping  him 
close,  yet  lifted  awe-filled  eyes  to  Our  Lady  that  thus  in 
her  own  inscrutable  way  answered  the  prayer  to  keep 
alive  in  the  nature  of  an  evil  man  its  one  good  part. 

Let  us  all  give  thanks  that  there  is  such  a  Lady,  and 
pray  that  she  may  barken  to  us  in  our  need ! 


I 


AS  THE  NORNS  WEAVE 


AS  THE  NORNS  WEAVE 


^B^^^^^^HERE    WAS    A    MAN    NAMED 

f^      I  ..-A   V    THOROLF;       HE       WAS 

^T  THRAIN'S     SON,     ERIC    THE 

J  WHITE'S  SON,  OF  NORWAY. 

/tt  HE  KEPT  HOUSE  AT  THOR- 

M  OLFSTEDE,  IN  THE  RANGRI- 

•  _     VERVALES  IN  ICELAND.    HE 

lj^&  ^Ife  was  an  honorable  man,  and  wealthy 

^H^k  V  in  goods.     His  wife's  name  was 

^^^^^^^^^r      Thorhilda,  but  she  does  not  come 
into  the  story  for  she  died  the  year 

after  she  was  married  to  him.  The  name  of  their  daughter 
was  Rodny.  While  she  was  yet  in  her  childhood,  it  could 
be  seen  that  she  was  going  to  be  fair  of  face,  and  her  eyes 
were  as  blue  as  the  sea  where  it  is  deepest. 

Lambi  was  the  name  of  another  man,  a  son  of  Grim 
the  Easterling.  He  dwelt  in  the  east  dales  when  he  was 
at  home,  but  he  was  more  often  at  Thorolf 's  for  the  bond 
of  friendship  was  strong  between  them.  He  was  a  true- 
hearted  man,  but  somewhat  soft-tempered.  The  name  of 
his  son  was  Skapti,  and  he  comes  shortly  into  the  story. 
Now  one  spring  while  Rodny  was  still  a  child  in 
years,  Thorolf  took  a  sickness  and  died;  but  before  he 
breathed  his  last  he  spoke  to  Lambi  and  asked  him  to 
see  after  his  daughter  and  take  in  hand  the  care  of  her 
goods,  and  Lambi  gave  his  word  to  do  that. 


VIKING 


LOVE 


So  Thorolf  died  and  was  laid  in  a  cairn  in  the  Ran- 
grivervales,  and  Lambi  came  to  live  at  Thorolfstede  to 
see  after  Rodny  and  her  household.  And  Skapti,  his 
son,  came  with  him.  And  so  they  sat  for  ten  winters,  and 
nothing  noteworthy  happened. 

At  the  end  of  that  time  Rodny  was  grown  up,  and  the 
fairest  of  women  to  look  upon.  Some  said  that  she  was 
rather  wilful  in  her  temper,  but  for  all  that  she  was  one 
of  the  best  loved  of  maidens.  A  fast  friend  she  was,  too, 
and  warm-hearted  and  generous;  and  the  best  proof  of 
that  is  that  she  never  grudged  Skapti,  Lambi's  son,  his 
way  about  anything. 

Skapti  was  this  manner  of  man.  He  was  so  born 
that  one  foot  was  withered  and  there  was  a  hump  on 
his  back,  and  he  never  waxed  large  of  frame  or  sturdy. 
But  in  his  face  he  was  the  most  handsome  of  men,  and 
his  hair  hung  down  in  long  curls  of  good  color.  It  was 
thought  that  his  father's  rearing  had  not  bettered  his 
disposition.  In  order  that  his  spirit  should  not  be  hum- 
bled by  his  deformity,  Lambi  praised  his  face  and  his 
wit  and  all  he  did,  and  begged  everyone  else  to  do  the 
same ;  and  the  upshot  of  it  was  that  Skapti  thought  there 
was  no  man  like  himself  for  dash  and  keenness,  and  was 
always  bragging  and  boasting,  and  every  one  had  to  give 
way  to  him  or  have  his  wrath.  He  had  a  shrewd  mind, 
but  he  was  so  spiteful  that  many  were  afraid  of  him. 

Now  a  fourth  man  is  named  in  the  story.  He  was 
called  Hallvard,  the  son  of  Asgrim  the  White.  He  owned 
a  good  homestead  in  the  Laxriverdales,  but  he  lived  more 
on  his  longship  than  on  land  for  every  spring  he  went 
a-sea-roving.  He  was  the  most  soldier-like  of  men,  and 
the  best  skilled  in  arms ;  tall  in  growth,  too,  and  powerful 
42 


AS      THE      NORNS      WEAVE 

and  well-knit.  Some  said  that  his  wits  were  rather  slow 
because  he  lived  so  much  where  it  was  of  most  impor- 
tance that  hands  should  be  quick ;  still  for  all  that  he  was 
fair-spoken  and  bountiful,  and  better  liked  and  more 
humble  than  any  other  man. 

It  happened  one  spring  that  he  rode  to  the  Assembly, 
with  all  his  shipmates  at  his  back.  Many  great  chiefs 
were  there  besides,  but  everyone  said  that  no  band  was  so 
soldier-like  as  his ;  and  a  group  of  women  that  stood  near 
the  booths  of  the  Rangrivervale  men  turned  their  heads 
to  look  after  him ;  and  one  of  them  who  knew  him  called 
out  merrily  and  bade  him  stop  and  talk  to  them. 

He  got  red  in  his  face  at  that,  for  his  mates  were 
much  given  to  gibes  and  jeering;  still  he  would  not  re- 
fuse her;  so  he  rode  back  and  got  off  his  horse  and 
greeted  her  well,  and  told  her  all  the  news  she  wished  to 
hear.  It  is  told  about  his  dress  that  it  was  of  red-scarlet 
and  very  showy,  and  he  had  on  his  head  a  gilded  helmet 
that  King  Sigurd  had  given  him,  and  his  face  was  brown 
from  the  sea-winds. 

Now  the  maiden  that  stood  next  to  the  one  that  had 
hailed  him  was  Rodny,  and  no  woman  there  was  as  fair 
as  she.  She  was  so  clad  that  she  had  on  a  kirtle  of  a  rich 
blue  color  that  trailed  behind  her  when  she  walked,  and 
a  silver  girdle  around  her  waist.  Hallvard  could  not 
keep  his  eyes  off  her  as  he  talked,  until  his  tongue  began 
to  blunder  and  say  the  same  thing  twice  over.  Rodny 
kept  her  feelings  better  in  hand ;  still  it  could  be  seen  that 
she  listened  eagerly  to  everything  he  said,  and  the  color 
trembled  in  her  cheeks  as  the  Northern  Lights  tremble 
in  the  sky. 

As  soon  as  he  got  a  chance  to  speak  apart  with  the 

43 


VIKING'S 


LOVE 


woman  he  knew,  Hallvard  asked  her  what  maiden  that 
might  be.  The  woman  told  him ;  and  then  she  managed  it 
so  that  he  should  talk  alone  with  Rodny,  though  the 
others  stood  near  and  spoke  among  themselves.  And 
they  talked  together  a  long  time ;  though  sometimes  there 
were  silences  between  them,  but  neither  of  them  seemed 
to  mind  that. 

At  last  Hallvard  said :  "  Many  strange  wonders  have 
I  seen  abroad,  yet  the  thing  which  seems  strangest  to 
me  I  see  here  in  Iceland." 

"  What  is  that?  "  says  Rodny. 

"  It  is  that  a  maid  like  you  should  be  unwed." 

"  Oh !  "  says  Rodny. 

Hallvard  said :  "  It  is  easily  seen  that  you  would  be 
thrown  away  on  any  match  you  should  make;  yet  that 
would  not  hinder  me  from  trying  my  luck  if  you  thought 
me  good  enough  to  ask  for  you." 

She  was  rather  slow  in  answering  that,  but  at  last 
she  spoke  in  a  well-behaved  way  and  said  there  could  be 
no  two  minds  about  that  since  every  one  thought  him  a 
man  of  the  greatest  mark. 

"  I  might  be  all  that,"  said  Hallvard,  "  and  still  not  be 
at  all  to  your  mind.  I  should  be  glad  if  you  would  say 
that  you  would  have  nothing  in  your  heart  against  such 
a  bargain." 

Then  Rodny  could  no  longer  keep  herself  altogether  in 
hand,  and  she  began  to  laugh  a  little  and  said  that  he  was 
hard  to  deal  with,  and  that  perhaps  if  she  should  say  that 
she  had  nothing  against  the  bargain,  he  might  answer 
that  that  was  too  bad  because  he  had  no  mind  to  it.  But 
the  end  of  her  jesting  was  that  she  broke  off  without 


»*•* 


AS      THE      NORNS      WEAVE 

finishing,  for  he  got  red  in  his  face  again,  and  it  could  be 
seen  that  he  was  much  in  earnest. 

"  I  should  have  thought  that  the  risk  as  to  that  lay  all 
on  my  side,"  he  said,  "  but  now  I  will  say  right  out  that 
my  life  will  never  seem  good  to  me  again  unless  I  get  you 
to  wife." 

Then  Rodny  answered  him  well  and  straightfor- 
wardly, and  said :  "  From  what  I  have  seen  of  you  so 
far,  I  think  I  could  love  you  well;  but  you  must  see  my 
foster-father,  Lambi,  about  it;  though  it  will  go  as  I 
say  in  the  end." 

After  that  they  left  off  speaking  together. 

But  the  next  day  Hallvard  came  to  Lambi's  booth, 
and  all  his  shipmates  with  him  to  show  him  honor, 
though  they  had  gibed  much  when  they  first  heard  what 
he  had  it  in  mind  to  do. 

Skapti  sat  in  front  of  the  booth  entertaining  himself 
with  the  antics  of  a  tumbling-girl,  that  cut  capers 
there  while  an  old  man  played  on  a  fiddle.  The  man's 
name  was  Kol,  and  his  nickname  was  Fiddling  Kol. 
Jofried  was  the  name  of  the  girl,  and  she  was  Fiddling 
Kol's  daughter.  She  had  on  a  man's  kirtle,  and  she  was 
well-shaped  and  not  ugly  of  face,  though  one  could  tell  by 
her  mouth  that  she  was  determined  in  disposition.  They 
were  vagabond  folk,  that  went  from  house  to  house  and 
lodged  where  they  could.  Skapti  always  talked  with 
the  girl  because  she  had  the  greatest  store  of  gossip  at 
her  tongue's  end ;  while  on  her  side  it  could  be  seen  that 
she  set  a  value  on  every  look  he  gave  her. 

Hallvard  greeted  Skapti  kindly,  and  his  mates  did 
the  same,  for  when  they  saw  his  deformity  they  thought 

45 


VIKING 


LOVE 


that  there  was  more  than  enough  that  was  wanting  in 
his  life;  and  Skapti  took  their  greeting  well  because  it 
seemed  to  him  that  they  could  not  but  be  envious  of  the 
fairness  of  his  face.  And  so  they  talked  together 
smoothly,  for  a  while,  and  Skapti  offered  to  give  them 
his  help  about  their  errand  —  whatever  it  might  be  —  and 
sent  a  man  to  call  Lambi  out,  when  he  heard  that  that 
was  what  they  wanted;  but  he  himself  went  back  to  his 
sport  with  the  tumbling-girl. 

Lambi  came  out  of  the  booth  at  once,  and  gave  them 
a  good  welcome.  After  that  they  fell  to  talking,  and 
Hallvard  asked  for  Rodny,  and  added  that  he  had  spoken 
to  her  about  it  and  the  match  was  not  as  far  from  her 
mind  as  might  have  been  expected. 

Now  Lambi  had  long  had  it  at  heart  to  wed  Rodny  to 
his  son,  and  there  was  no  bargain  that  he  would  not  have 
been  more  willing  to  make  than  this  one.  And  at  the 
same  time  he  knew  that  it  would  be  pulling  an  oar 
against  a  strong  current  to  go  against  Rodny's  will.  So 
he  held  his  peace  for  a  while,  and  after  that  he  answered 
in  this  way: 

"  Every  Spring  since  you  have  been  able  to  stretch 
your  hand  over  a  sword,  Hallvard,  you  have  fared  abroad ; 
and  for  all  that  we  in  Iceland  can  tell,  you  may  have 
wooed  a  maiden  in  every  land  your  ship  has  touched. 
It  is  said  that  the  sea's  own  fickleness  soaks  into  the 
bones  of  them  who  live  on  her,  and  many  a  man  has 
done  such  things  and  been  thought  no  less  of.  But  with 
Rodny  I  will  not  have  it  so,  and  these  are  the  terms  I  lay 
down.  You  shall  sail  abroad  as  you  had  the  intention 
to  do,  and  there  shall  be  no  betrothal  between  you;  but 
if  you  think  of  her  often  enough  while  you  are  gone  so 

46 


AS      THE      NORNS      WEAVE 

that  four  times  during  the  summer  you  send  a  man  out 
to  Iceland  to  greet  her  from  you,  then  when  you  come 
home  in  the  Autumn  the  bargain  shall  be  made.  But  if 
you  do  not  think  of  her  that  often,  it  is  unlikely  that  she 
would  get  any  pleasure  out  of  her  love  even  if  she  were 
wedded  to  you,  and  you  shall  not  get  her." 

Hallvard  said  at  once :  "  I  agree  to  those  terms.  And 
now  let  us  take  witnesses." 

So  they  stood  up  and  shook  hands,  and  the  bargain 
was  struck;  though  Hallvard's  friends  murmured  among 
themselves  and  said  that  such  terms  ought  not  to  be  laid 
down  for  a  man  like  Hallvard. 

Then  Hallvard  said :  "  I  only  make  this  condition  — 
that  Rodny  should  give  me  her  word  not  to  betroth  her- 
self to  any  other  man  while  I  am  gone." 

"  I  have  no  fault  to  find  with  that,"  said  Lambi. 

So  he  sent  for  Rodny,  and  she  came  thither,  and  with 
her  three  women.  She  spoke  to  them  all  well  and  cour- 
teously ;  and  after  that  she  sat  down,  and  Lambi  told  her 
all  about  the  bargain  and  left  nothing  out. 

It  could  be  seen  from  her  way  that  she  thought  the 
terms  far  too  strong.  And  when  she  heard  what  it  was 
that  Hallvard  wanted  of  her,  she  answered  without  wait- 
ing: 

"  I  will  promise  that,  and  more  besides.  I  will  prom- 
ise that  when  his  ship  comes  to  land  in  the  Autumn,  I 
will  come  down  half-way  between  my  house  and  the 
shore  to  meet  him,  that  some  honor  may  be  done  him,  as 
too  much  has  not  been  shown  so  far." 

Hallvard  said  that  it  was  honor  enough  that  he  got 
the  right  to  woo  her,  still  he  would  not  fling  back  the 
kindness  she  offered  him ;  and  they  made  a  bargain  about 

47 


VIKING'S 


LOVE 


that  also.  After  that,  they  bade  each  other  farewell, 
and  Hallvard  and  his  friends  rode  away  to  their  booth. 

Now  it  must  be  told  how  Skapti  wearied  of  his  pas- 
time and  came  in  and  asked  his  father  what  it  might  be 
that  Hallvard  wanted,  and  Lambi  told  him  of  the  bargain 
he  had  made. 

At  first  it  looked  as  Skapti  could  not  believe  it,  and 
then  it  seemed  as  if  he  would  never  leave  off  scolding. 

"  Now,"  he  said,  "  it  is  proved  true  what  I  have  long 
suspected,  that  you  are  a  doting  old  man  that  no  longer 
knows  how  to  behave  with  sense,  when  you  thus  give 
away  to  another  man  the  woman  that  I  have  always  had 
it  in  my  own  mind  to  marry." 

So  he  went  on,  and  made  it  known  in  every  way  that 
he  thought  he  had  been  wrongfully  used. 

Then  Lambi  said :  "  You  take  it  ill,  kinsman,  and 
there  is  some  excuse  for  you.  But  now  this  is  to  be 
taken  into  consideration,  that  Rodny  had  set  her  heart 
on  the  man,  and  his  honor  is  great  everywhere." 

"  His  body  is  great,"  said  Skapti,  "  as  big  as  a  bear's ; 
and  he  shall  yet  dance  to  my  wit  as  a  bear  dances  to  a 
willow  pipe." 

Then  they  had  many  words  about  it,  until  they  were 
both  wroth ;  and  Lambi  said : 

"  There  is  no  use  in  troubling  oneself  about  what  is 
done  and  over,  but  I  see  now  that  my  rearing  has  made 
you  crooked  in  your  temper  as  well,  and  limping  in  your 
sense." 

After  that  he  went  away ;  and  Skapti  flew  into  a  great 
rage,  so  that  there  was  no  speaking  to  him;  and  he  laid 
saddle  on  a  horse  and  rode  without  drawing  rein  until 
he  came  to  the  booths  of  the  Laxriverdale  men. 

48 


'SI 


AS      THE      NORNS      WEAVE 

It  happened  that  Hallvard  and  his  friends  were  still 
out  of  doors ;  and  they  were  in  a  merry  mood,  and  drank 
and  made  jesting  wishes  about  the  bridegroom ;  and  Hall- 
vard wore  a  joyful  face,  and  took  all  their  jibing  blithely. 

When  Skapti  rode  up,  Hallvard  greeted  him  well  and 
asked  him  to  get  down  and  drink  with  them.  But 
Skapti  began  at  once  to  talk  in  the  most  ill-tempered 
way,  and  the  end  of  his  scolding  was  that  he  bade  Hall- 
vard turn  his  steps  and  his  thoughts  away  from  Rodny 
from  that  time  henceforward  because  he  had  the  intention 
to  wed  her  himself. 

Now  in  the  beginning  of  his  speech  it  was  so  that 
Hallvard  looked  at  him  and  did  not  know  what  to  make 
of  him.  And  in  the  middle  of  it,  his  temper  got  a  little 
tried.  But  when  he  came  to  the  end,  Hallvard  burst 
out  laughing.  And  his  friends  began  to  laugh,  one  after 
the  other;  and  no  one  took  further  heed  of  Skapti,  but 
all  went  back  to  their  drinking. 

It  is  said  that  Skapti  was  so  wroth,  and  had  his  temper 
so  little  in  hand,  that  he  wept.  Then  he  went  away  by 
himself,  aside  from  other  men,  and  stayed  so  a  long  while. 
After  that  he  rode  over  the  plain  until  he  found  Jofried, 
the  tumbling-girl.  He  talked  long  and  low  to  her,  and 
no  man  knew  what  passed  between  them.  But  when 
they  stood  up  to  part,  Skapti  said  this  out  loud : 

"  So  things  shall  take  this  turn,  that  she  shall  not 
come  down  to  meet  him  when  his  ship  makes  land  next 
Fall,  nor  shall  he  have  courage  enough  to  follow  her  up 
in  her  hall.  And  then  it  will  be  put  to  proof  whether  or 
not  I  am  to  be  set  aside  and  made  game  of." 

Then  the  tumbling-girl  spoke  so  as  to  flatter  him, 

49 


V    I    K    I 


G  '  S 


LOVE 


and  said  that  she  had  never  heard  a  plan  that  promised 
to  work  out  better. 

Skapti  swelled  out  his  chest  and  said :  " Jof ried,  this  is 
how  it  is,  that  when  I  look  at  the  clods  around  me  it 
seems  as  if  it  were  given  me  to  know  their  every  weak 
spot;  and  I  declare  with  truth  that  I  can  take  their  life- 
threads  and  weave  them  as  the  Norns  weave,  and  my 
judgments  are  no  more  to  be  spoken  against  than  theirs !  " 

After  that,  Skapti  rode  home.  But  Jofried  did  as  he 
had  bidden  her  and  went  down  to  the  shore  where  Hall- 
vard's  ship  lay,  and  prayed  Hallvard  to  give  her  and  her 
father  leave  to  fare  abroad  with  him  that  they  might 
show  their  accomplishments  to  other  audiences  and  in- 
crease their  goods. 

Hallvard  gave  them  leave;  and  now  the  story  follows 
the  ship  for  a  while. 

Shortly  after,  they  got  a  fair  wind  and  sailed  away  to 
sea.  Hallvard  stood  by  the  steering-oar,  but  Jofried  sat 
on  the  deck  at  his  feet.  When  they  could  no  longer 
see  the  land,  Jofried  began  to  weep  much  and  bemoan 
herself,  so  that  Hallvard  asked  what  was  on  her  mind. 

Jofried  said :  "  I  would  give  all  I  own  that  I  had  never 
come  hither ;  and  it  will  stand  me  in  little  stead  though  I 
get  all  the  goods  in  Norway,  if  by  going  away  I  lose  my 
chance  of  Skapti's  love." 

Hallvard  laughed  and  said :  "  I  did  not  know  before 
that  Skapti  got  on  so  well  with  women.  But  tell  me  who 
it  is  that  you  think  is  likely  to  rob  you  of  his  heart." 

"  It  is  Rodny,  Thorolf's  daughter,"  said  Jofried.  "  He 
has  always  looked  upon  her  with  eyes  of  love,  but  now  I 
can  see  by  his  manner  that  his  love  is  at  the  harvest ;  and 
So 


AS      THE      NORNS      WEAVE 

the  likelihood  is  that  they  will  be  wedded  before  we  ge,t 
back."  And  as  she  said  this,  she  wept. 

But  Hallvard  looked  as  if  he  did  not  know  whether 
to  laugh  or  get  wroth,  and  at  last  he  said :  "  I  think 
there  is  no  need  for  this  to  look  so  big  in  your  eyes,  mess- 
mate. Skapti  sets  too  much  store  by  himself  to  love 
anyone  who  does  not  love  him,  and  there  is  little  danger 
that  Rodny  will  ever  do  that." 

"  But  she  will  do  it,"  Jofried  answered,  "  for  he  is  the 
most  handsome  man  that  men  ever  saw;  and  his  hair  is 
as  fine  as  silk;  and  there  is  so  much  of  it  that  it  hides 
his  lame  back  like  a  cloak  of  gold." 

"  He  is  a  little  crooked  stick  with  a  gilded  head," 
says  Hallvard. 

"  You  can  call  him  that  if  you  want  to,"  said  Jofried, 
"  but  it  only  proves  what  I  knew  before,  that  you  know 
nothing  at  all  about  women ;  for  with  a  woman,  a  gilded 
head  counts  for  more  than  a  great  clumsy  body  like  a 
dancing-bear's." 

Now  it  had  happened  to  Hallvard,  each  time  he  came 
before  Rodny,  to  feel  himself  very  big  and  clumsy  and 
out  of  place ;  so  he  got  red  in  his  face  at  that,  and  went 
away  to  another  part  of  the  ship,  and  he  and  Jofried  saw 
little  of  each  other  for  a  time. 

But  when  they  had  been  out  three  weeks  they  came 
to  Norway,  and  sailed  into  the  Bay  there  and  made  land 
at  the  King's  Crag.  And  Hallvard  went  up  to  the  town, 
where  some  trading-booths  were,  and  bought  a  good 
gold  finger-ring  and  sent  it  out  to  Rodny  on  a  ship  that 
stood  ready  to  sail.  Jofried  praised  the  ring  much,  and 
Hallvard  was  so  pleased  at  that  that  he  answered  her 
eagerly  and  said : 

Si 


VIKING'S         LOVE 


"  It  is  no  lie  what  you  say  of  me,  Jofried,  that  I  know 
little  about  women;  yet  this  has  occurred  to  me  which 
should  also  be  borne  in  mind,  that  Rodny  is  different 
from  other  maidens.  I  know  it  for  true  that  she  sets 
great  store  by  weapon-skill  and  deeds  of  might,  and  I 
tell  you  for  your  comfort  that  she  will  never  give  her- 
self away  to  a  man  who  spends  his  days  kissing  the  maid- 
servants by  the  fire." 

But  Jofried  shook  her  head  and  answered :  "  That 
may  well  be,  master;  and  yet  Rodny  is  a  woman  for  all 
that,  and  all  women  think  alike.  And  the  proof  of  that 
is  this,  that  although  I  am  no  more  than  a  gangrel  woman, 
I  have  the  same  feelings  as  a  maiden  reared  in  a  bower ; 
and  to  me  as  to  them,  all  other  men  look  like  shambling 
giants  when  Skapti,  Lambi's  son,  is  by." 

In  this  manner  she  kept  on  speaking  about  Skapti's 
fairness  until  it  seemed  to  Hallvard  as  if  it  could  be  no 
otherwise  than  so;  and  he  got  wroth  and  said  that  if  it 
went  as  she  foretold,  Skapti  would  not  be  so  handsome  of 
feature  after  he  got  through  with  him.  And  after  that 
he  was  very  short  with  her  for  a  while. 

Then  they  sailed  from  the  Bay  out  into  the  open  sea 
again ;  and  there  they  fell  in  with  sea-rovers  and  a  great 
fight  sprung  up;  and  they  got  the  victory,  and  much 
goods.  Among  the  spoil  there  was  a  necklace  of  fine 
gold  and  the  best  workmanship;  and  Hallvard  took  that 
for  his  share,  and  sent  it  out  to  Rodny  by  a  trading-ship 
that  was  shaping  her  course  toward  Iceland.  But  before 
he  sent  it,  he  showed  it  to  Jofried  and  said : 

"  Do  you  not  think  that  will  get  me  some  favor  in  her 
eyes?" 


^ 

1 


AS      THE      NORNS      WEAVE 

Jof tied  answered :  "  Good  is  the  gift,  but  methinks 
it  would  be  still  better  if  it  were  not  dumb." 

He  asked  her  what  she  meant  by  that,  and  she  went  on : 
"  I  should  think  any  one  could  see  that  when  Rodny  has 
hung  the  necklace  around  her  neck,  she  will  think  no 
further  about  it;  but  Skapti  will  sit  by  her  side  and  be 
always  speaking  so  as  to  flatter  and  gladden  her,  and  the 
end  will  be  that  he  will  have  all  her  thoughts ;  for  in  the 
whole  of  Iceland  there  is  not  his  equal  for  a  quick  wit." 

Now  Hallvard  knew  himself  for  a  slow-witted  man,  so 
his  heart  went  down  at  this;  and  thereafter  he  took  no 
pleasure  in  the  gifts  he  sent.  And  from  that  day  forth  he 
grew  very  silent,  so  that  men  noticed  it. 

At  first  no  one  could  guess  what  was  at  the  bottom  of 
it,  but  soon  Jofried  repeated  everything  that  she  had  told 
him  about  Skapti. 

All  spoke  against  it,  in  the  beginning ;  but  the  end  was 
that  they  believed  her.  After  that  the  matter  was  their 
daily  talk,  when  Hallvard  was  not  by ;  and  the  more  they 
talked,  the  more  wroth  they  became  for  his  sake.  At  last 
they  went  so  far  as  to  go  before  him,  one  after  the  other, 
and  beg  him  not  to  stop  at  the  Rangrivervales  as  he  had 
intended,  lest  Rodny  should  break  the  tryst  and  make  a 
laughing-stock  of  them,  but  to  hold  his  course  north  to 
the  Laxriverdales  and  send  a  man  back  from  there  to  see 
how  the  land  lay. 

Hallvard  listened  to  them  all  without  speaking,  but  it 
was  easy  to  see  that  each  piece  of  advice  left  him  more 
sick  at  heart  than  before. 

And  now  the  days  run  on  until  the  time  comes  to  turn 
their  faces  toward  Iceland. 

Then  one  night  when  the  shipmates  were  drinking 

53 


VIKING'S 


LOVE 


under  the  tents  on  the  forecastle,  Hallvard  came  among 
them  and  said: 

"  I  have  taken  counsel  with  myself  about  what  you 
want  of  me ;  and  though  I  will  not  sail  past  the  Rangri- 
vervales  as  you  wish,  neither  will  I  ask  you  to  ride  up  to 
the  trysting-place,  as  was  intended.  But  we  will  so  man- 
age it  that  we  come  to  land  after  sunset,  and  make  a 
night-camp  on  the  shore ;  and  there  we  will  be  that  night 
and  the  next  day.  And  if  it  happens  that  during  that 
time  Rodny  sends  anyone  down  to  us  with  a  bidding,  we 
will  ride  up  to  her  hall  and  make  the  excuse  that  we  could 
not  come  before  because  we  had  much  goods  to  see  to; 
but  if  she  does  not  send  any  welcome  down,  then  —  when 
we  have  camped  on  the  shore  one  more  night  —  we  will 
weigh  anchor  and  sail  away  north." 

All  said  that  was  a  better  way  than  to  keep  the  tryst 
and  run  the  risk  of  being  laughed  at.  And  now  the  story 
goes  back  to  Thorolfstede,  and  what  happened  there. 

When  Hallvard  had  been  away  six  weeks,  a  ship  came 
out  from  Norway  and  ran  into  the  Rangriver,  and  a  man 
that  was  on  board  came  to  Thorolfstede  and  greeted 
Rodny  from  Hallvard  and  gave  her  the  gold  finger-ring 
that  Hallvard  had  sent.  And  Rodny  was  glad,  and  put 
it  on  her  hand  where  she  could  see  it  all  the  time  that  she 
stood  at  her  loom;  and  at  night  the  hand  that  wore  it 
rested  under  her  cheek. 

But  when  the  next  month  had  worn  away,  and  that 
trading-ship  came  into  the  river  which  had  on  board  the 
necklace  that  Hallvard  had  taken  from  the  sea-rovers, 
Skapti  went  down  to  meet  her,  and  sought  out  Hallvard's 
man  and  made  him  drunk  and  robbed  him  of  the  necklace 
and  threw  it  into  the  river.  And  when  the  man  came  into 

54 


AS     THE     NORNS     WEAVE 

his  wits  again  and  saw  what  had  befallen  him,  he  was  so 
frightened  that  he  dared  not  come  near  Rodny  at  all,  but 
fled  back  to  the  ship  and  stayed  there  while  she  held  her 
course  northward.  And  Skapti  came  home  and  told 
Rodny  that  no  greeting  had  been  sent. 

Rodny  was  rather  cast  down  at  first,  for  she  had  made 
sure  that  the  ship  would  have  some  word  for  her.  Still 
it  was  not  long  before  she  had  thought  of  many  good 
reasons  why  Hallvard  might  have  been  hindered  from 
sending;  and  she  looked  at  her  ring  more  often  than 
before,  and  was  soon  light-hearted  again.  So  another 
month  passes  away. 

Then  a  third  ship  came  out  from  Norway,  and  on  her 
was  one  of  Hallvard's  men  that  had  in  his  keeping  for 
Rodny  a  brooch  of  gold  with  four  silver  crosses  hanging 
from  it.  But  Skapti  went  down  to  meet  him,  and  then  it 
was  the  same  story  over  again.  The  man  leapt  over- 
board and  swam  to  a  ship  that  was  just  pulling  out  for 
the  east.  But  Skapti  went  home  and  told  Rodny  that  no 
greetings  had  come. 

At  that  Rodny  held  her  peace  for  a  long  while;  and 
once  tears  came  into  her  eyes,  and  that  was  not  her  way. 
But  still,  when  Lambi  spoke  and  said  that  it  began  to 
look  as  if  her  lover  had  forgotten  her,  she  answered 
quickly  and  said : 

"  If  he  has  forgotten  me,  it  is  in  doing  deeds  that  men 
will  praise;  and  so  it  may  well  be  forgiven  him.  And 
besides,  it  will  not  be  long  now  before  he  remembers  me 
again."  And  in  this  way  she  answered  all  who  found 
fault  with  him,  and  showed  herself  big-hearted  in  every- 
thing. 

But  when  the  Summer  had  worn  away  till  it  lacked 

55 


VIKING'S 


LOVE 


but  five  weeks  of  Winter,  a  fourth  ship  came  out  of  the 
east ;  and  Rodny  got  no  greetings  that  time  either,  for  the 
man  that  was  bringing  a  gold  arm-ring  to  her  was  in  such 
haste  to  take  passage  back  again  that  he  handed  over  his 
charge  to  Skapti  of  his  own  free  will,  and  rowed  out  to 
another  ship  as  fast  as  he  could  go.  And  Skapti  threw 
the  gift  into  the  sea,  and  told  Rodny  the  same  lie  as 
before. 

Then  Rodny  could  no  longer  speak  up  for  Hallvard, 
but  sat  biting  her  lips  in  silence,  when  Lambi  spoke 
against  him  and  said  how  much  better  it  was  to  make 
bargains  with  men  whose  lives  she  knew  all  about.  Men 
thought  that  this  time  her  pride  was  put  to  a  hard  trial. 
Yet  she  never  spoke  any  ill  words  of  Hallvard. 

And  now  the  time  goes  on  until  the  last  of  the  days 
before  winter  conies.  One  day  at  even,  Rodny's  shep- 
herd came  galloping  up  to  the  door  and  said  that  Hall- 
vard's  ship  had  sailed  into  the  river.  Skapti  and  every- 
one looked  at  Rodny ;  and  first  her  face  was  as  though  it 
were  all  blood,  and  then  it  was  as  white  to  look  on  as  the 
moon. 

Skapti  thought  there  was  little  risk,  but  that  her  tem- 
per would  jump  the  way  he  wanted  it  to,  and  yet  to  make 
sure  he  spoke  up  sharp  and  quick  and  said : 

"  Now  Hallvard  has  forgotten  much,  but  one  thing  I 
hope  he  will  remember,  and  that  is  that  he  has  promised 
to  meet  you  half-way  between  your  hall  and  the  shore; 
for  you  would  get  the  greatest  shame  if  you  went  down 
and  he  was  not  there." 

Then  Lambi  said :  "  If  you  will  lean  on  my  counsel, 
foster-daughter,  you  will  call  up  your  pride  and  stay  at 
home.  Hallvard  has  broken  agreements  enough  to  set 

56 


AS      THE      NORNS      WEAVE 


you  free,  and  more  besides ;  and  it  is  even  as  my  son  says, 
that  mocking  tongues  will  not  be  wanting  to  shame  you 
if  you  keep  a  tryst  that  your  lover  has  forgotten." 

But  Rodny,  when  she  had  held  her  peace  for  a  little, 
answered  them  slowly  and  said :  "  It  is  true  that  Hall- 
vard  has  seemed  to  forget  me,  and  that  my  pride  has  been 
sorely  tried ;  and  it  is  no  less  true  that  if  he  gives  me  fresh 
cause  for  anger,  I  may  let  my  temper  go  as  far  as  it  will. 
But  now  you  both  show  how  little  you  guess  what  love 
is  in  a  woman's  breast,  or  you  would  know  that  while 
there  is  any  chance  at  all  that  he  may  prove  himself  guilt- 
less of  meaning  disrespect  toward  me,  I  care  no  more 
about  mocking-tongues  than  I  do  about  the  blowing  of 
the  wind." 

After  that  she  went  away,  and  at  first  Skapti  thought 
matters  had  taken  a  bad  turn.  But  shortly  he  saw  that 
it  was  unlikely  that  Hallvard  would  keep  the  tryst  him- 
self, and  that  would  become  a  fresh  cause  of  strife 
between  them ;  and  then  he  was  merry  again. 

Now  it  must  be  told  how  Rodny  rode  the  next  morn- 
ing to  the  trysting-place,  and  Lambi  and  Skapti  and  ten 
men  with  her.  And  when  they  got  there,  there  was  no 
one  to  meet  them. 

"  What  did  I  tell  you?  "  said  Skapti. 

"  It  is  early  yet,"  replied  Rodny ;  and  so  they  sat  for  a 
while. 

Then  there  came  the  noise  of  hoofs  trampling  over 
brush.  But  it  was  only  one  of  Rodny's  house-carles  that 
had  taken  horse  and  come  after  her  to  tell  her  that  he  had 
just  been  up  on  a  high  hill  that  overlooked  the  river,  and 
there  he  had  seen  Hallvard's  men  camping  on  the  shore, 
and  taking  no  steps  to  get  ready  to  ride,  but  lying  about 

57 


VIKING'S 


LOVE 


on  the  sand  and  amusing  themselves  with  the  tumbling- 
girl. 

Rodny  made  him  tell  it  three  times  over,  and  then  she 
was  so  wroth  that  no  one  had  ever  seen  any  woman  so 
wroth  before.  She  swung  her  horse  about  and  was  for 
riding  home  without  a  word,  when  Hallvard  came  out  of 
the  wood  before  her,  red  in  his  face  and  out  of  breath 
because  he  had  come  on  foot  from  the  shore  while  his 
mates  thought  him  sleeping  on  the  ship. 

As  soon  as  Skapti  saw  that,  it  seemed  to  him  that  he 
had  got  into  a  luckless  state ;  and  he  slipped  behind  a  bush 
and  made  off  toward  the  shore  to  find  Jofried  and  scold 
her  for  her  great  falling-off  of  wit.  But  Hallvard  went  up 
to  Rodny  and  gave  her  a  joyful  greeting ;  and  after  a  little 
she  welcomed  him  with  both  hands. 

Then  he  said :  "  I  see  that  you  dislike  my  tardiness, 
and  I  want  to  beg  off  from  your  wrath ;  for  it  is  the  truth 
that  I  came  as  fast  as  I  could." 

Rodny  said :  "  But  where  are  your  friends,  that  you 
come  alone  and  unattended  like  a  man  of  no  honor?  " 

Hallvard  seemed  to  find  that  hard  to  answer,  and  he 
waited  a  while ;  but  at  last  he  said :  "  I  will  tell  it  just  as 
it  is  and  not  lie  about  it.  I  did  not  want  my  mates  along 
for  fear  that  you  would  not  keep  faith  with  me,  and  I 
should  be  put  to  shame  before  them.  And  now  I  see  that 
I  have  behaved  like  a  great  fool  from  the  beginning; 
though  the  reason  is  that  it  seemed  so  wondrous  a  thing 
that  you  should  love  a  man  like  me,  that  I  could  hardly 
believe  it  when  you  were  no  longer  before  my  eyes." 

At  that  Rodny  was  so  well  pleased  that  she  did  not 
want  him  to  see  how  much  pleased  she  was,  and  kept  her 

58 


AS      THE      NORNS      WEAVE 

eyes  on  her  hands  where  they  lay  in  his.  But  shortly  he 
spoke  again,  and  then  his  voice  was  a  little  down-hearted. 

"  Though  I  see,"  said  he,  "  that  you  did  not  like  my 
gifts,  since  you  wear  them  neither  on  your  neck  nor  your 
breast  nor  your  arm.  And  yet  I  had  hoped  that  they 
would  please  you  a  little." 

"  Gifts  ! "  said  Rodny.  Then  he  began  to  ask  ques- 
tions, and  it  came  out  that  she  had  never  set  eyes  on  the 
pretty  things. 

Hallvard  was  so  wroth  that  it  looked  for  a  while  as 
if  some  man  would  have  to  go  down  before  him.  But 
Rodny  took  it  in  quite  another  way. 

"  It  is  to  me  as  though  I  had  got  the  three  best  gifts 
in  the  world,"  said  she.  "  And  I  care  not  a  whit  what 
became  of  the  gold  so  long  as  you  remembered  to  send  it." 

With  that,  she  slipped  off  her  horse  and  put  her  arms 
around  Hallvard's  neck  and  kissed  him;  and  thereafter 
their  love  ran  smoothly  enough. 

And  now  all  that  is  left  to  tell  is  how  Skapti  came 
down  to  the  shore  and  began  to  scold  Jofried,  and  she 
answered  in  this  way: 

"  No  more  of  the  blame  for  this  lies  on  me  than  on 
you ;  for  it  is  proved  by  this  that  though  you  know  much 
of  men's  weaknesses,  you  know  nothing  at  all  about  the 
strong  parts  of  their  natures.  And  now  you  may  have 
your  choice  of  two  things  —  either  you  shall  take  me  to 
wife  and  give  me  equal  rights  with  yourself  over  your 
goods,  or  I  shall  go  to  Hallvard  and  tell  him  everything 
about  this  plan,  and  then  you  will  have  his  wrath  to  bear, 
and  you  know  as  well  as  I  whether  you  would  be  able  to 
stand  up  under  that." 

59 


Because  he  thought  he  knew  enough  of  her  to  be  sure 
that  she  would  do  as  she  said  if  he  did  not  give  way  to 
her,  Skapti  took  her  to  wife;  though  he  thought  the 
choice  a  hard  one.  They  went  away  into  the  east  dales 
to  live  on  a  homestead  that  Lambi  gave  them ;  and  Jof ried 
stood  up  for  her  rights  in  word  and  deed. 

And  here  we  end  the  story  of  how  the  Norns  wove. 


HOW  THOR  RECOVERED 
HIS  HAMMER 


HOW  THOR  RECOVERED 
HIS  HAMMER 

In  Three  Parts. 

^M^^^^^pS  I  HAVE  TOLD  YOU  BEFORE, 

BILSKIRNER,    THE    PALACE 

M  OF  THOR  THE  STRONG-ONE, 

M  ;;        WAS  BUILT  IN  HIS  KINGDOM 

M  mi       OF    THRUDVANG,    THE 

•   f^^H          REALM  THAT  LAY  BEYOND 

HpiVl          THE  THUNDER-CLOUDS.     IT 

i  was  the  very  largest  palace  that 

was  ever  roofed  over,  for  it  had  five 

^^m  ^^B          hundred  and  forty  halls  beneath  its 

^^^^^  silver  dome ;  and  it  was  so  dazzling 
bright  that  when  people  on  earth  caught  a  glimpse  of  it 
through  the  clouds,  they  blinked  and  said  they  had  seen 
lightning.  In  a  tremendous  hall  in  the  centre  of  it,  Thor 
spent  most  of  his  time  when  he  was  not  away  fighting 
giants  or  attending  assembly-meetings.  There  were 
benches  all  around  the  walls  for  his  followers;  gleaming 
weapons  hung  above  them;  a  fire  blazed  on  the  golden 
hearth ;  and  in  the  middle  of  the  line  of  seats  the  Strong- 
One  had  his  splendid  shining  throne  or  high-seat. 

One  would  have  supposed  that  such  a  bright  place 
would  have  been  difficult  to  sleep  in,  yet  here  every  night, 
when  the  feasting  was  over,  the  members  of  the  house- 
hold stretched  themselves  on  the  cushioned  benches  and 
took  their  rest;  and  here,  on  this  particular  morning  of 

63 


VIKING 


LOVE 


which  I  am  going  to  tell  you,  they  all  lay  sleeping  soundly 
—  perhaps  even  snoring,  if  the  truth  were  known.  Thor 
leaned  back  in  his  high-seat,  his  red  beard  tossed  up  and 
down  by  his  deep  breathing.  Loki  the  Sly-One,  who 
was  visiting  him,  sprawled  unconscious  among  the  cush- 
ions beside  him;  even  the  fire  was  slumbering  and  only 
roused  now  and  then  to  wink  a  drowsy  red  eye  down 
among  the  embers. 

Amid  all  this  peace  and  comfort,  Thor's  bushy  brows 
began  to  frown  as  though  a  bad  dream  were  troubling 
him.  You  know  how  proud  he  was  of  the  hammer  that 
the  dwarfs  had  made  for  him?  He  called  it  The  Crusher 
(Mjolner)  because  nothing  could  withstand  a  blow  from 
it;  and  always  while  he  slept  it  stood  on  the  floor  lean- 
ing against  the  arm  of  his  seat,  within  easy  reach  of  his 
hand.  Now  he  dreamed  that  Thrym,  the  giant  king,  had 
stolen  it  and  borne  it  away  to  his  stronghold. 

He  awoke  with  a  start  and  sat  up  and  looked  about 
him.  He  was  safe  in  his  own  hall,  surrounded  by  his 
own  men.  It  was  impossible  that  anything  could  have 
happened.  Yet  —  just  to  make  sure  —  he  put  out  his 
hand  and  felt  for  The  Crusher. 

If  you  will  believe  me,  it  really  was  gone ! 

The  Strong-One  uttered  such  a  shout  that  down  on 
the  earth  people  thought  they  had  heard  a  thunder-clap. 
His  hair  and  his  beard  rose  and  quivered  like  a  million 
tiny  flames.  He  bent  over  and  shook  the  sleeping  Sly- 
One. 

"  Mark,  now,  Loki,  what  I  say !  What  no  one  knows 
on  earth  or  in  high  heaven  —  my  hammer  is  stolen !  " 

Loki  was  instantly  awake.    He  was  a  very  handsome 

64 


I 


HOW  THOR  RECOVERED  HIS  HAMMER 


youth  and  one  of  the  cleverest  of  all  the  mighty  beings 
who  lived  above  the  clouds.  Sometimes  he  was  more 
clever  than  honest,  which  is  why  I  call  him  the  Sly-One. 
There  came  a  time  when  he  was  so  wicked  that  he 
brought  a  terrible  punishment  upon  himself.  But  just 
now  his  shrewdness  was  of  great  use  to  Thor. 

He  answered  as  soon  as  he  had  heard  about  the  dream, 
"  It  is  likely  that  you  are  right  and  that  Thrym  is  the 
thief.  But  it  would  be  unadvisable  for  you  to  go  to  him. 
You  are  so  fiery  that  you  would  kill  him  before  you  had 
learned  anything.  I  will  borrow  the  feather-dress  of 
Freyja  the  Lovely  and  do  the  errand  for  you." 

"  I  should  be  very  thankful  to  you,"  said  Thor. 

Hastening  out,  they  harnessed  to  the  chariot  The- 
Goat-That-Gnashes-His-Teeth  (Tanngnjost)  and  The- 
Goat-That-Flashes-His-Teeth  (Tanngrisner)  and  drove 
to  Folkvang,  where  Freyja's  immense  palace  (Sessrym- 
ner)  stood.  No  mansion  in  the  upper  world  had  so  many 
seats  for  guests  as  hers;  and  she  was  as  generous  as  she 
was  hospitable. 

When  Thor  had  told  her  why  they  had  come,  she  an- 
swered with  the  sweetest  of  smiles,  "  I  would  give  you  the 
dress  gladly  though  it  were  of  gold.  Though  it  were  of 
silver,  I  would  give  it  to  you  instantly."  And  she 
ordered  her  attendants  to  bring  it  at  once  from  the  chest 
in  which  it  was  stored. 

Though  it  was  neither  of  gold  nor  of  silver,  yet  it  was 
very  handsome.  It  was  made  of  the  white  and  brown 
plumage  of  falcons  and  fitted  Loki's  graceful  body  like  a 
glove. 

"  I  only  hope  no  one  will  think  me  such  a  pretty  bird 

65 


VIKING'S 


LOVE 


that  he  will  catch  me  and  shut  me  in  a  cage,"  the  Sly- 
One  laughed,  rustling  his  feathers  as  you  have  seen 
canaries  do  after  a  bath. 

Then  he  spread  his  shining  wings  and  flew  out  of  the 
window,  over  the  world,  on  and  on.  By  the  time  the  goats 
had  brought  Thor  back  again  to  Thrudvang,  the  magic 
pinions  had  carried  Loki  into  the  Land  of  the  Giants 
(Jotunheim). 

It  would  almost  seem  as  if  Thrym  were  expecting 
him,  for  he  had  placed  himself  where  he  was  very  easy 
to  find  —  on  a  mound  in  front  of  the  royal  cavern.  There 
he  sat  sunning  himself  and  braiding  gold  collars  for  his 
greyhounds,  while  half  a  score  of  his  horses  nosed  and 
browsed  around  him.  He  was  very,  very  large  and  very, 
very  old.  His  long  beard  and  hair  glittered  like  frost,  and 
short  glistening  hairs  grew  all  over  his  face  and  his  hands. 
When  Loki  alighted  before  him  he  did  not  seem  in  the 
least  surprised,  but  looked  up  with  a  wicked  grin. 

"How  fare  the  mighty  ones?  How  fare  the  elves? 
Why  come  you  alone  to  Jotunheim?  "  he  asked. 

Loki  answered  sternly,  "  111  fare  the  mighty  ones. 
Ill  fare  the  elves.  Have  you  concealed  the  hammer  of 
Thor?" 

The  giant's  grin  broadened  until  the  mouth  looked 
like  a  wide  crack  across  his  face.  It  was  evident  that  he 
thought  he  had  played  a  very  clever  trick.  He  answered 
promptly,  "  I  have  concealed  the  hammer  of  Thor  eight 
lengths  beneath  the  ground.  No  man  brings  it  back 
unless  he  gives  me  Freyja  as  my  bride." 

Freyja  the  Lovely  the  bride  of  such  a  hoary  old  mon- 
ster! Loki  burst  out  laughing.  But  the  giant  only 
turned  his  back  upon  him  and  began  talking  to  his  horses 

66 


HOW  THOR  RECOVERED  HIS  HAMMER 

and  running  his  huge  fingers  through  their  snowy  manes. 
They  were  all  of  them  as  large  as  hail-clouds.  It  sud- 
denly occurred  to  Loki  that  if  one  of  them  should  chance 
to  step  upon  him,  there  would  be  very  little  of  him  left. 
There  was  nothing  to  do  but  carry  the  answer  back  to 
Thor.  So  again  he  spread  the  shining  wings,  leaped  into 
the  air,  and  flew  back  over  the  world  to  Thrudvang. 


II 


ALTHOUGH  he  was  not  long  kept  waiting,  Thor  had 
time  to  imagine  all  sorts  of  unpleasant  things  — 
even  to  fancy  that  perhaps  the  Sly-One  was  playing  an- 
other of  his  tricks  and  would  not  return  at  all.  The 
instant  Loki  in  the  feather-dress  appeared  upon  the 
threshold,  he  called  out  sternly: 

"  Have  you  succeeded  in  doing  your  errand?  Then 
give  me  the  message  before  you  sit  down.  What  one 
tells  after  he  has  had  time  to  sit  down  and  think  up 
fibs,  is  often  of  little  value." 

As  Loki  happened  to  be  acting  honestly  for  once,  he 
felt  somewhat  aggrieved  at  this. 

"  Well  have  I  succeeded  in  doing  my  errand,"  he  an- 
swered ;  "  Thrym  the  King  of  Giants  has  your  hammer. 
No  man  brings  it  back  unless  he  gives  him  Freyja  as 
bride." 

Thor  snorted  so  that  his  red  beard  streamed  far  out, 
and  down  on  the  earth  people  thought  they  had  seen  the 
fiery  northern  lights  streak  across  the  sky. 

"  Is  it  to  win  her  that  he  has  made  all  this  trouble? 
Ride  we  to  Freyja  without  delay." 

They  mounted  the  chariot,  and  in  an  astonishingly 

67 


VIKING 


LOVE 


short  time  the  lightning-swift  goats  had  drawn  them  to 
Folkvang. 

Freyja  the  Lovely  sat  in  her  high-seat  playing  with 
her  wonderful  necklace,  whose  beads  sparkled  and  flashed 
like  water-drops  in  the  sun.  When  she  heard  wheels,  she 
guessed  that  the  Strong-One  was  approaching  and  came 
out  into  the  courtyard  to  meet  him. 

"  I  give  you  good  greeting,"  she  said,  smiling  kindly 
as  Loki  flew  to  her  and  dropped  the  feather-dress  at  her 
feet. 

But  she  did  not  smile  so  sweetly  when  Thor  had 
reined  in  the  goats  before  her  and  told  her  of  the  giant's 
demand. 

"  Dress  yourself,  Freyja,  in  bridal  robes,"  he  finished, 
"  together  we  will  ride  to  Jotunheim." 

The  Lovely  One  straightened  up  so  quickly  that  her 
hand  caught  in  her  necklace  and  broke  it  into  a  shower 
of  sparkling  balls. 

"  Sooner  will  I  die  than  put  on  bridal  robes  for  such  a 
monster,"  she  declared. 

The  Strong-One  looked  at  her  in  surprise.  The  ham- 
mer was  so  important  to  him  and  to  them  all  that  he 
thought  any  one  ought  to  be  willing  to  do  anything  to 
recover  it. 

"It  is  likely  that  you  will  die  if  I  do  not  get  The 
Crusher  back,"  he  said  at  last.  "  If  the  giants  should  in- 
vade the  sky,  I  would  have  nothing  to  fight  them  with 
and  they  could  get  the  victory  over  us." 

Freyja  answered  nothing  whatever,  but  she  put  back 
her  beautiful  shining  hair  from  her  beautiful  rosy  face 
and  looked  at  him  sorrowfully.  All  at  once  it  occurred  to 
Thor  that  she  was  much  too  lovely  to  be  given  to  such  a 


HOW  THOR  RECOVERED  HIS  HAMMER 


wicked  old  creature.  He  made  only  one  more  very  faint 
attempt. 

"  I  am  told  for  certain  that  Thrym  has  got  great 
riches,"  he  said,  "he  has  a  herd  of  all-black  oxen  and  all 
his  cows  have  gold  horns." 

Then  Freyja  stamped  her  foot. 

"  I  would  be  a  love-sick  maid  indeed  if  with  you  I 
would  ride  to  Jotunheim !  "  she  said  severely.  And  with 
that  she  left  them  and  ran  into  the  house  —  and  I  am  not 
sure  that  she  did  not  close  the  door  pretty  hard  behind 
her. 

Thor  scratched  his  head  thoughtfully. 

*'  Much  goes  worse  than  is  expected,"  he  said  at  last. 
"  We  will  see  now  what  advice  my  kinsmen  have  to 
offer." 

Again  he  puffed  and  snorted  so  that  the  trees  on  the 
earth  below  were  stirred  and  swayed  as  by  a  rushing 
wind. 

"  Certainly  there  is  going  to  be  a  great  storm,"  the 
earth-people  said  to  each  other.  And  as  they  heard  the 
chariot-wheels  rumbling  along  above  the  clouds,  they 
added,  "Hark!  Do  you  hear  the  thunder?" 

They  must  have  thought  it  a  very  long  storm  for 
before  he  stopped,  Thor  had  driven  to  almost  every  palace 
in  the  sky.  Odin  the  All-wise  Ruler,  Balder  the  Bright, 
and  Heimdal  the  White  One,  Tyr,  Brage,  Vale  — he 
visited  each  of  them.  Soon  they  were  all  gathered  to- 
gether at  their  meeting-place  on  the  plains  of  Ida. 

They  consulted  long  and  earnestly.  At  last  Heimdal 
the  White  One,  who  had  the  gift  of  fore-knowledge,  gave 
them  this  counsel : 

"  It  is  my  advice  that  we  play  a  trick  upon  the  King 

69 


VIKING'S 


LOVE 


of  the  Giants  and  allow  him  to  believe  that  we  have 
done  as  he  asked.  We  will  dress  Thor  in  bridal  robes 
and  send  him  to  Thrym." 

At  this,  loud  laughter  went  up  from  the  others.  You 
remember  that  Thor  was  not  only  stronger  than  any 
man  on  earth,  but  he  was  also  mightier  than  any  being 
in  the  sky.  Imagine  dressing  him  up  for  a  beautiful 
graceful  woman ! 

"  That  is  cleverly  devised !  "  cried  Loki.  "  With  a 
bridal  veil  will  we  hide  the  red  beard,  and  Thrym  shall 
not  know  him  until  the  Strong-One  has  got  his  hand  on 
his  hammer.  Then  will  he  know  him  to  his  sorrow !  " 

They  all  laughed  again ;  but  the  mighty  Thor  frowned 
angrily. 

"Never  will  I  submit  to  it,"  he  growled.  "Every 
living  thing  would  mock  at  me,  should  I  go  dressed  in 
bridal  robes." 

Perhaps  Loki  wished  to  revenge  himself  on  the 
Strong-One  for  having  spoken  so  sternly  to  him  when 
he  first  brought  the  message  from  Jotunheim.  Now  in 
his  turn  he  said  sternly : 

"Be  silent,  Thor.  Stop  such  talk.  Soon  will  the 
giants  build  in  the  sky  if  you  do  not  bring  your  hammer 
back." 

Because  he  knew  this  to  be  true,  Thor  could  say 
nothing  more.  He  stood  frowning  and  stamping  and 
growling  in  his  beard  while  they  brought  Freyja's  jewels 
and  her  beautiful  robes  to  dress  him  in. 

They  put  on  him  a  very  long  gown  that  trailed  about 
his  feet  so  that  he  was  certain  that  it  would  trip  him  up 
when  he  should  try  to  walk.  They  hung  sparkling  neck- 
laces around  his  neck,  and  placed  a  bunch  of  jingling 


HOW  THOR  RECOVERED  HIS  HAMMER 

keys  at  his  belt  to  show  that  he  was  a  good  house-keeper. 
Broad  gold  broaches  they  pinned  on  his  breast,  and  then 
they  braided  his  red-gold  hair  into  two  beautiful  wavy 
braids. 

How  the  Mighty-One  did  stamp  and  fume  at  all  this ! 
And  how  the  others  laughed  at  him!  The  more  they 
laughed,  the  angrier  he  grew  —  and  the  angrier  he  be- 
came, the  funnier  he  looked  in  his  bridal  robes.  The 
whole  vault  of  the  sky  echoed  and  re-echoed  with  their 
mirth. 

At  last  he  was  all  dressed  and  they  dropped  the  bridal 
veil  over  his  furious  face. 

Then  Loki  said,  with  a  slim  grimace,  that  such  a  lovely 
bride  could  not  be  allowed  to  travel  without  at  least  one 
serving-maid.  So  he  took  the  dress  of  one  of  Freyja's 
attendants  and  put  it  on  himself.  As  he  was  young  and 
handsome  and  with  no  more  beard  than  either  you  or 
I,  he  made  a  very  pretty  waiting-damsel. 

He  got  into  the  chariot  beside  Thor,  the  lightning- 
swift  goats  were  hitched  to  the  car,  and  away  they  went 
to  Jotunheim. 


Ill 


1  Goat-That-Gnashes-His-Teeth  and  The-Goat-That- 
Flashes-His-Teeth  struck  out  fiery  sparks  from  their 
gold-shod  hoofs.  So  came  Loki  and  the  Strong-One  into 
Jotunheim. 

While  they  were  yet  a  long  way  off,  Thrym  heard 
them  coming  and  laughed  exultantly. 


VIKING'S 


LOVE 


"  Much  wealth  have  I ! 
Many  gifts  have  I! 
Freyja,  methinks,  is  all  I  lack! " 

he  sang;  then  he  called  out  to  his  followers,  "Giants, 
arise  and  spread  the  embroidered  cloths  over  the  benches. 
Freyja  comes  to  be  my  bride." 

The  servants  tumbled  over  each  other  in  wild  excite- 
ment. Some  covered  the  seats  and  the  walls  with  em- 
broidered tapestries.  Some  strewed  fresh  straw  upon 
the  floor.  Others  scoured  the  shields  and  brought  in  the 
tables  and  set  forth  the  massive  golden  dishes. 

Just  as  twilight  was  falling,  the  chariot  thundered  into 
the  courtyard. 

When  he  saw  Freyja's  robes  and  Freyja's  jewels,  it 
never  occurred  to  Thrym  to  doubt  that  it  was  really 
Freyja  under  the  veil.  He  took  the  bride's  hand  and  led 
her  to  her  seat,  laughing  exultantly  and  singing  his  boast- 
ful song : 

"Much  wealth  have  I! 
Many  gifts  have  I! 
Freyja,  methinks,  was  all  I  lacked ! " 

Then  he  ordered  the  food  to  be  brought  in,  and  invited 
every  one  to  help  him  keep  his  wedding-feast. 

When  they  began  to  eat,  it  was  a  wonder  that  Thor's 
appetite  did  not  betray  him  the  very  first  thing.  Either 
he  was  so  hungry  that  he  did  not  care  what  they  thought, 
or  else  he  forgot  that  he  was  pretending  to  be  a  dainty 
lady.  Besides  all  the  cheese  and  the  curds  and  the  honey, 
he  ate  seven  whole  salmon  and  one  whole  ox,  and  after 
that  he  drank  three  barrels  of  the  sweet  spicy  mead. 
Loki  pinched  him  under  the  table  as  a  sign  for  him  to 
72 


HOW  THOR  RECOVERED  HIS  HAMMER 

stop,  but  he  only  growled  in  his  beard  and  ate  one  salmon 
more. 

Thrym's  eyes  grew  as  big  as  milk-bowls. 

"  Saw  I  never  such  a  hungry  bride ! "  he  exclaimed, 
pushing  back  to  stare  at  her.  "  Saw  I  never  a  bride  eat  so 
much !  Saw  I  never  a  maid  drink  so  much  mead !  " 

At  that,  even  Thor  was  a  little  alarmed,  for  if  the 
giant  king  should  discover  them  before  they  got  the 
hammer,  not  only  would  their  plan  fail  but  they  would 
lose  their  lives  into  the  bargain.  He  could  think  of  noth- 
ing to  answer,  however,  so  he  sat  silent.  Lucky  was  it 
for  him  that  Loki  always  had  his  wits  about  him. 

The  Sly-One  answered  quickly,  "  Hungry  is  Freyja, 
thirsty  is  Freyja,  for  nothing  has  she  eaten  or  drunk  for 
eight  days  —  so  much  did  she  long  to  come  to  Jotun- 
heim." 

Thrym's  look  of  surprise  changed  to  one  of  com- 
placency. 

"  Is  it  so  indeed !  "  he  exclaimed,  and  finished  his  sup- 
per very  pleasantly. 

But  by  and  by  he  became  so  pleased  with  his  bride 
that  he  wanted  to  kiss  her.  Before  Thor  could  hinder  it, 
he  reached  out  his  great  hairy  hand  and  pulled  at  the  veil. 
It  slipped  aside  just  enough  to  disclose  Thor's  furious, 
fiery  eyes. 

The  giant  king  sprang  back  the  whole  length  of  the 
hall. 

"Why  are  Freyja's  eyes  so  sharp?"  he  cried.  "It 
seems  that  fire  burns  in  her  eyes." 

By  this  time,  the  Strong-One  was  so  angry  that  I 
think  he  hardly  cared  what  happened.  Lucky  was  it  for 

73 


VIKING'S 


LOVE 


all  the  folk  of  the  sky  that  Loki  was  there  to  answer 
for  him. 

The  Sly-One  spoke  up  quickly,  "  Sharp  are  Freyja's 
eyes,  fiery  are  Freyja's  eyes.  She  has  not  slept  for 
eight  nights,  so  much  did  she  long  to  come  to  Jotun- 
heim." 

"  Is  it  true  indeed ! "  said  Thrym,  much  flattered  that 
his  bride  had  been  so  eager  to  come  to  him.  And  he 
came  back  and  sat  down  beside  her  and  looked  at  her 
affectionately. 

Finally  the  time  came  for  the  giving  of  the  bridal 
gifts.  An  old  sister  of  Thrym  came  and  bowed  low  be- 
fore the  bride. 

"  Give  from  your  hand  the  golden  rings  if  you  desire 
friendship  of  me,"  she  demanded,  "  if  you  desire  friend- 
ship of  me  —  and  love." 

Because  he  was  determined  that  he  would  never  give 
her  anything  but  a  blow,  Thor  answered  nothing  what- 
ever. Thrym  feared  that  his  bride  was  offended  by  the 
questions  he  had  asked,  so  he  hastened  to  do  something  to 
appease  her. 

He  called  to  his  servants,  "  Bring  me  the  hammer  to 
please  my  bride.  Place  the  hammer  on  the  lap  of  the 
maid.  Wed  us  together  in  the  name  of  Var." 

Thor's  heart  laughed  within  him  when  he  saw  his 
beloved  hammer  drawn  out  of  its  hiding-place  and  borne 
toward  him.  But  he  sat  as  stiff  as  a  stick.  Until  his 
hand  grasped  it,  there  was  still  danger.  Nearer  they 
came  with  it.  Nearer  —  and  all  unsuspecting,  they  laid 
it  upon  his  knee. 

Then  at  last  Thrym  learned  how  the  cleverness  of 
the  sky-people  surpassed  his  cleverness.  Thor's  mighty 

74 


HOW  THOR  RECOVERED  HIS  HAMMER 


hand  closed  upon  the  handle ;  he  threw  back  the  veil ;  he 
leaped  to  his  feet.  His  terrible  eyes  blazed  upon  them 
as  his  arm  flew  back  to  strike. 

Once!  and  Thrym  fell  dead  at  his  feet.  Twice!  and 
the  old  giantess  lay  beside  her  brother.  Again  and 
again  and  again  —  until  the  whole  race  of  giants  were 
felled  like  a  forest  of  towering  trees. 

Thus  came  Odin's  son  again  by  his  hammer. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


ECO, 


jfttt. 


21 


197S 


NOV  7 
FE610 


Form  L9-Series  4939 


t 


PLEASE  DO  NOT  REMOVE 
THIS  BOOK  CARD   • 


: 

03 


r=3 


University  Research  Library 


